The Saint Louis University men’s soccer team jump-started their Conference USA schedule with a 4-0 win over DePaul last night. The win came after an emotional 1-1 tie with Southwest Missouri State last Saturday.

The Billikens dominated play from the beginning and looked to take advantage of the hapless Blue Demons early on.

SLU opened the scoring in the 10th minute as Andy Pusateri set up Jack Jewsbury. The Billikens had numerous chances on the possession. As the ball rolled through the box, Nick Walls and Jewsbury were taken down before they could play the ball. Pusateri gained possession on the endline and found Jewsbury, who headed home the first goal.

SLU scored again seven minutes later. Jason Cole made a run up the near sideline. He beat his defender and made a great move to open himself up for the pass.

He found Vedad Alagic at the edge of the box. Alagic hit a volley in from 15 yards out.

Brad Davis made the score 3-0 with 14 minutes left in the first half. Alagic hit a great pass to Jewsbury. Jewsbury chested the ball down to Davis. He hit a long shot from well outside the box.

The Billikens continued their strong play in the second half. They maintained possession throughout. The defense allowed only four shots in the game

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Jewsbury rounded out the scoring for SLU with seven minutes left in the game. Mike Hill hit a centering pass into the box. Cole let the ball pass between his legs, but Jewsbury collected the pass and scored inside the near post from 12 yards out.

“We actually have had a lot of trouble with DePaul in the past,” said head coach Bob Warming. “They are a little down this year. We spent a ton of energy and emotion Saturday night. We have great anticipation for Saturday night (against UAB). We realize the magnitude of Saturday’s game.”

John Politis made the start for the Billikens. He made one save, but his contributions went deeper than his statistics.

“The save he made was the kind of saves we haven’t made,” Warming said. “John’s so big, he just stood up and made the save. John is going to start against UAB. He’s a great physical presence. They have some players that are 6-4. We need every inch of his height against UAB.”

Even though I didn’t face a lot of shots, I had to keep myself in the game,” Politis said.

“This year, I’ve gotten more playing time. I wanted to have a good game and a good showing. It was a big win for the team. We needed the win.”

SLU is hoping to avenge two losses from last year. The Blazers handed the Bills a 3-2 loss in overtime during the regular season and a 4-0 C-USA tournament championship loss.

The Billikens played the 10th-ranked Southwest Missouri State Bears to a 1-1, double-overtime tie in front of a homecoming crowd of 4,537 last Saturday night.

The energetic, third largest on-campus crowd in school history witnessed history being repeated as the two teams played to the same outcome of last year’s match.

“The environment was terrific. Students were all dressed up with Billiken gear. They created a fun atmosphere. I was very pleased with the crowd and the players. We played fantastic. It was a great night for soccer,” coach Warming said.

The defensive domination by both teams was finally broken by SMS mid-fielder Chris Brunt, who scored the only goal against the Billikens last year, when he crossed a shot past goalkeeper Paul Nagy in the 79th minute.

Only one minute had passed before sophomore forward Jackie Jewsbury, who scored last year’s goal against SMS, punched in the equalizer for the Billikens.

The Billiken defense was on top of their game against SMS with great performances by Jason Cole, Joe Hammes, and Marty Tappel. Nagy put together another great game in front of the goal.

“Our defense did a lot of things right. The goalkeeper for SMS had a great game, so did Nagy. It was just a well-played game,”

Despite not coming away with a victory the Billikens were pleased with their performance.

“We aren’t upset about the tie at all. They happen. We feel really good about the game. We played well,” Warming said.

“We have a strong strength of schedule. Our conference is very tough with Marquette playing well, and UAB looks great. We are still in the hunt for a conference championship. Were not out of it.”

SLU appeared to be back playing great soccer. According to Warming, nobody had a bad performance. Since the loss to SMU, the Billikens have been playing well.

“I am very proud of my players. Hopefully we can keep it up and play as well as this every game,” Warming said.

” If we play like this from here on out, we will have a great season,” he said.

Despite the low score, the game was full of excitement. The second-half of the game was played under driving rain, and an early display of fireworks during the second over-time period was set off prematurely.

The Billikens fired numerous shots that just missed the net, including a shot by Brad Davis that was nearly converted by the freshman. The crowd reacted as if it went in, even fooling Warming and some of his players.

“I thought it was in. Soccer is like that, the game can be determined by the width of a goal post. We are playing an exciting, attacking brand of soccer right now. The fans love it. It makes the game really enjoyable.”