This year in sports saw improvements across the board. The men’s and women’s soccer teams both won regular season Conference USA championships. The field hockey, baseball, hockey and golf teams are all on the rise. And the basketball team gave us a scintillating ride through March.
Here now is each of the Billiken sports in summary.
Fall Sports
There wasn’t any time last season when the men’s soccer team was overmatched. But, in the most important game of the year, the Billikens were outplayed, outworked and outhustled. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, coach Bob Warming’s squad lost to the UCLA Bruins 2-0.
The loss ended a phenomenal season for the Bills. SLU went 17-4-2 and 7-1-0 in C-USA, sharing the regular-season crown with UAB. The Billikens won all three major regular season tournaments in which they participated. And the team qualified for a record 38th time in the 41-year history of the NCAA Tournament.
The seniors guided the Bills all year long. Jeff DiMaria, a first-team All-American, scored nine goals while tacking on eight assists; Jason Mims also tallied nine goals, and Nick Bokern and Vedad Alagic each scored 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Paul Nagy anchored the defense in the goal. The defensive fearsome foursome of David Williams, Jason Cole, Tim Sartori and Tim Tedoni prohibited teams from penetrating the goal area, posting a 1.00 goals against average.
The women’s soccer team had a record-breaking season this year. They finished 14-3-3 overall and were 8-1-2 in Conference USA play. The Billikens won the regular-season conference title.
The Billikens stayed healthy throughout the season and were able to capitalize on stifling defense, good ball movement and possession during the season. The team surprised many teams and experts, since they were chosen to finish sixth in the league. Many of the Billikens saw significant playing time, with 17 players seeing action in at least 13 games.
The Bills set many team records, including the best record in school history. Many individual records were set as well. Trisha Underberg set the season record with 11 goals and 26 points. Meghann Burke set season records for fewest goals allowed (14), lowest goals against average (0.65) and most shutouts (10).
SLU rode a 10-game unbeaten streak (9-0-1) into the conference tournament. But the Bills lost to Southern Miss in the first round of the C-USA Tournament.
For the second consecutive season, the volleyball squad chalked up over 20 wins (23-7). But, also for the second consecutive season, the team was left out of the NCAA Tournament field.
Like last year, coach Marilyn Nolen’s squad started the season hot. The Bills broke out of the gate by scoring 10 straight wins, and won 13 of the first 14 matches. But SLU limped through the latter part of the C-USA schedule, losing four of their last five matches. SLU ended up with a 9-7 C-USA record.
In the C-USA tourney, the No. 5-seeded Billikens fell to the No. 12-seeded UAB Blazers in four sets.
Laura Risley guided the Bills for the second straight year. Despite getting double teamed by SLU opponents, Risley found a way to record 4.9 kills per game and 1.4 blocks per game. She was the lone senior on the team.
Turmoil reigned at the beginning of the season for the field hockey program. David Foley was supposed to be the head coach of the team, but he bolted-for unspecified reasons- near the beginning of the season.
But 24-year-old Shannon West stepped in and restored order-and a winning attitude-to the squad. West guided the Billikens to a 6-11 season as the interim coach. As a result, the athletic department made her the full-time head coach late last year.
The season started out slow for the Billikens, as they opened the season with a 1-6 mark. But SLU rebounded late in September and won four of six games to improve to 5-8.
The Billikens finished the NORPAC season tied for last place at 1-4 with Southwest Missouri State and Davis & Elkins.
SLU lost its first game in the NORPAC Tournament to Southwest Missouri State, 4-2. However, the Bills came back the next day to defeat Davis & Elkins 7-0 to capture fifth place in the tournament.
Seniors Lucy Durbin and Becky Brunner led the team throughout the season. As a forward, Durbin tallied 13 goals and six assists for 32 points. Brunner controlled the midfield for SLU, scoring five goals while adding nine assists.
The cross country teams struggled through another disappointing year. Both the men and the women failed to achieve any high placings in the major tournaments in which they participated.
But the programs did have some solid performances from many runners. On the mens’ side, Ben Benoy, Juan Brito, Chris Dollenmeyer and Brandon Middleton posted career-best times this year in the Conference USA meet. Brito had the best time overall, recording a time of 26:22, putting him in 45th place out of 75 runners. Benoy placed 48th with a time of 26:27.
The men’s team’s best overall finish was in the Wisconsin-Parkside Invitational. The Billikens were 20th out of 36 teams.
Katie Even, Aimee Walther and Kathryn Zweig paced the women’s team. Even had her best showing of the year in the Bradley Invitational. She took 23rd place in the tourney, finishing one second off her career-best time of 19:12. Walther ran the best time all year for the women in the C-USA meet. She finished the race in a time of 19:04, good for 47th place. Zweig posted a career-best time of 19:40 at the SIUC meet.
The women finished in 11th place out of 12 teams at the C-USA meet. Its best effort of the year came at the Wisconsin-Parkside Invitational. The Bills took 14th place out of 34 teams.
Winter Sports
Lorenzo Romar made quite an impression in his first season as the Saint Louis University men’s basketball coach. The Bills went 19-14 and made the NCAA tournament after going through a tough stretch near the end of the season.
The Billikens lost key games against DePaul, Tulane and Cincinnati late in the year and they were looking at a possible NIT berth. The only chance the Bills had of making the NCAA tournament was by winning the C-USA Tournament. The Bills beat Southern Miss and then needed a miracle to upset the Bearcats.
Three minutes into the game, the impossible happened. National Men’s College Basketball Player of the Year Kenyon Martin broke his fibula. From there the Billikens rode Justin Love’s 25 points to a victory, 68-58.
Love came up big in the next round when he dropped 26 on Tulane as the Billikens cruised to the final round to face the DePaul Blue Demons.
The Billikens were playing for their postseason lives against the highly-ranked DePaul Blue Demons. The hero for the Billikens was John Redden.
Down the stretch Redden came up with careful ball handling and excellent free throw shooting. Redden finished with 19 points and only a single turnover.
From there the Billikens advanced to the NCAA tournament to meet the Utah Utes. After playing even for most of the game, Utah hit a turnaround, fade-away three-pointer that took away the Billiken momentum and fired up the Utes. The Billikens stayed close and missed a last-second three point attempt to tie the game.
Utah won 48-45, but the Billikens accomplished what was once thought impossible, making the NCAA tournament.
The women’s basketball team finished the year 11-16 overall and 4-12 in C-USA games. The Bills battled through injuries and inexperience. There were eight freshmen on the team. The season opened with promise as the Bills won their first five games.
Even though the Billikens struggled for victories, there were many bright spots. Melissa Oliver missed 13 games with a broken thumb, but came back with a vengeance. She scored 20 points in her first game back against Tulane on 10-10 shooting. Kara Wile broke the season and career assist marks.
The struggles the Billikens encountered this year could prove very beneficial next season. The Bills will have a young team with much experience at the Division I level.
After a spectacular three-year run at the Division II level of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, the SLU hockey club stepped up to Division I ACHA hockey.
The team had an up-and-down season, as it finished 16-18-2. The Billikens missed out on the ACHA National Tournament, ending up 16th overall. But SLU managed to salvage part of its season by winning the Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey Association Conference Tournament title.
The Billikens had good all-around play, especially late in the year. Goalie Justin Stiehr was solid in the nets for the Bills, and Tim Niedbalski, Tim Carbery and Dan Chadakhtzian were the offensive forces for SLU.
The Billikens should improve next year. They will only lose three seniors, and the team now knows what it takes to win in Division I hockey.
The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams had completely different years. The men had a good winter, going 4-3 in dual meets while the women failed to win any meets, finishing with a 0-7 mark.
As with cross country, the teams were marked by solid individual performances. On the women’s’ side, Abbey Robbins and Jenny Hurst paced the Billikens. Robbins won the 500 meter and 1000 meter freestyle in the same meet five times.
Hurst won the 1-meter springboard diving event five times and the 3-meter event seven times in meets.
Jason Difani was the men’s best swimmer. He won the 50-meter and 100-meter events in the same meet six times. Go Ozeni and Luke Muran swam well also. Ozeni won the 200-meter breaststroke in three meets, and Muran performed well in the 100 and 200 meter races.
In the biggest meets of the year, the men finished third out of six teams at the Mideast Classic Championships. The women finished in sixth place out of six teams.
Spring Sports
Slowly but surely, Bob Hughes’ baseball team is coming around. After posting a 19-39 overall record and a 5-22 C-USA mark last season, the Billikens are on their way to topping those numbers. Currently, they are 17-29 and 5-16 with seven games left.
Pitching has been key for the Bills this season. After the staff had a C-USA-high 9.06 earned run average last year, this year’s SLU hurlers have a 5.90 ERA. But the team has had trouble winning the close ballgames, going 4-14 in games decided by two runs or less. And the offense has slacked off from last season, dropping from a .311 team batting average to a .289 average this season.
Unfortunately, SLU’s season may end a little early this year. The Bills are in last place in the nine-team C-USA. Only the top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament.
The softball team built on its 4-46 record last season. The Billikens have posted an 8-40 record overall and 2-13 in conference so far this year. The Bills have three C-USA regular season games left before the conference tournament. They could reach 10 wins.
One bright spot for the Bills this year is their new on-campus facility. The Billikens played their home games at the Billiken Sport Center.
Erin Jeffrey led the Billikens’ offensive attack with a .298 batting average. She has 39 hits, including one double and a pair of triples.
Kristin Rossi has led the pitching staff with a 2.84 earned run average and five victories. She has racked up 160 innings and had 20 complete games.
After years of finishing in the lower half of the C-USA golf tournament, it looked as if this was the year that the Billikens would finally move among the conference’s elite squads.
SLU had a strong fall campaign, grabbing three top-five finishes out of six tournaments. And in the spring, the Bills continued their quality play. They placed in eighth, 10th and fifth place in three tournaments before hosting the Billiken Invitational at their home course. Coach Ed Schwent hoped the solid play would continue to the C-USA Tournament.
But SLU stumbled in the tournament, taking seventh place out of 12 teams. The disappointing finish in their own tournament may have carried over to the C-USA tournament. The Bills faltered, ending up in 10th place out of 12 teams, remaining in the bottom half of the conference.
If a single word could describe the SLU men’s tennis team, painful would be a good choice. After finishing the season 4-17 overall and 0-4 in conference, there was nothing but pain for the Bills.
SLU went down to the C-USA tournament and were swept by UNC Charlotte. In the second match the Bills could only muster a single point. The No. 1 and 3 doubles teams were the only ones to score wins for the Bills, as they went down 4-1.
Senior Bill Tanurchis and transfer student G.T. Cozad led the Billikens all season, and because of their output, they will be missed.
The future looks bright, though. The Billikens are bringing in two very highly rated recruits that should instantly help the struggling team.
The Saint Louis University women’s tennis team fared better than their male counterparts. The Bills finished with a 7-15 overall record and a C-USA record of 0-4.
SLU went to the C-USA tournament with high hopes and almost pulled it out. The Billikens were playing DePaul close when the Bills No. 1 singles player, Courtney Hague went down with a knee injury. DePaul pulled out the victory, 5-2.
The Billikens then played Cincinnati in the consolation round. The Bills rattled off six singles victories but couldn’t pull out the doubles as they fell, 5-4.
In the final match of the season, the Billikens played tough again, but couldn’t pull it off as they dropped yet again, 5-4, to UNC-Charlotte.
The St. Louis University men’s club rugby team had another busy season this year. In the fall the ruggers traveled to Rockhurst University and held their own against tough competition. This spring they clobbered city rival Washington University 22-0. However, they came up short in the the Langenburg Cup, which sends one team to Westerns, the regional tournament.
With the University of Missouri-Rolla and Wash. U forfeiting because of spring break, the ruggers took on the University of Missouri for the Cup. They lost in a grudge match 25-22 to officially end their postseason hopes. They defeated Rockhurst in a “friendly” match and also played tough against the St. Louis Old Boys (SLOBS), their alumni.
