There’s been no easy game for the Saint Louis University men’s soccer team this season. SLU has faced nationally ranked Indiana, Creighton, Southern Methodist and Cincinnati, in addition to taking on a slate of Conference USA foes.
And things don’t get any easier during this upcoming week, as the Billikens take on second place Alabama-Birmingham at UAB on Sunday and then face third-place Marquette on Wednesday. These next two games will help determine which team claims the C-USA championship and which team secures home-field advantage throughout the C-USA tournament.
“It’s us, UAB and Marquette for who gets to host the C-USA championship,” said coach Bob Warming. “It’s where you want to be. These guys have done well to put themselves in this place.”
UAB comes into Sunday’s match with a overall record of 9-5-0 and a 5-1-0 C-USA mark. The Blazers have a five-game winning streak heading into the game.
Marquette also has a 9-5-0 overall mark but is two games back in the conference race, with a record of 4-2-0. The Golden Eagles face South Florida before coming to St. Louis.
With two wins over UAB and Marquette, SLU can win the C-USA title outright.
The Billikens bring in a 12-1-1 overall record and a 5-0-0 C-USA mark into the next two games. SLU defeated North Carolina-Charlotte last Sunday, 2-1. Warming thought that the Bills played one of their best first halves since he’s been here. Jason Mims scored his fifth goal of the year in the ninth minute, to give the Bills a 1-0 lead. Nine minutes later Jeff DiMaria scored his fourth goal of the season on a 30-yard shot to the right corner, putting the Billikens up 2-0.
“The first 20 minutes was some of the best soccer we’ve played since I’ve been here,” Warming said. “We were attacking great.”
The 49ers cut the lead to 2-1 early in the second half on a goal by Rob Evans. But the SLU defense held on to preserve the win.
“The second half wasn’t as pretty, but we got the win,” Warming said.
The Bills are continuing to play solid soccer during their nine-game winning streak, which began on Sept. 17. The offense is averaging 2.55 goals per game, while the defense is allowing only 0.55 goals against per game.
Warming thinks that the key to the Billikens maintaining their winning streak has been defense.
“We keep doing a great job in marking the other teams’ top players and getting the ball to DiMaria and (Marty) Tappel,” Warming said.
