Field Hockey
Goal! The St. Louis University Field Hockey team scored 11 of them on Monday when they thrashed cross-town opponent Lindenwood 11-0.
Coming off of a huge victory over Northern Pacific Conference rival Southwest Missouri State, eight different Billikens scored goals, and goalkeepers Erin Linehan and Leslie Kearns shared the shutout victory.
Head coach Shannon West said, “Our win over SMS did a lot to boost the team’s confidence.”
Junior midfielder Sue Albers started the Billikens scoring with 32:19 left in the first half. Freshman Stephanie Knight followed with her first career goals coming at 8:55 and 5:44 left in the half.
The Billikens’ persistence didn’t stop there. Junior Heather Mattingly began the second half scoring in the 33rd minute. Freshman forward Alisa Hebert added another goal 45 seconds later.
Junior Keri Brunner followed with her fifth goal of the year at 30:24, and junior Kristen Burich added her fourth and fifth goals of the season. Brunner finally ended the scoring with her sixth goal of the year.
Hebert said of the Lindenwood game, “It was a great game for us to work on some things and improve our overall play.”
Lindenwood was held to zero shots on goal while the Billikens had 27.
The Bills record now improves to 4-7 with a 1-2 mark in the NorPac Conference.
They now move to take on Big Ten Conference foe Michigan State at 1 p.m. today at the Anheuser-Busch Conference & Sports Centre.
The Bills have not fared well in the previous four outings against Michigan State going 0-3-1. “The Mich. St. game will be an excellent challenge for us. They are an established team and they bring with them great competition,” Hebert said.
“It will be a great way for us to prepare for our upcoming conference games next weekend,” Hebert added.
The Billikens will travel to California next weekend to play two NorPac Conference games against the University of Pacific and California.
Men’s Tennis
The Saint Louis University men’s tennis team had a successful weekend at home in the Billiken Classic. The tournament, which was held at the Billiken Tennis Center, saw two members of the tennis team win singles titles.
Freshman blue-chips Lance Vodicka and Thomas Kwong faced each other in the finals of the Flight A singles division, with Vodicka emerging victorious. Also, junior Chad Andrews took the Flight C singles title.
Kwong said, “I played well up until the finals; then the wind picked up, and I had trouble keeping the ball on the court. I just made too many mistakes in the final match.” Both of the freshmen seem to be blossoming early in the year, and, hopefully the pair can keep their good play up.
In the semi-finals Kwong had no unforced errors and volleyed to victory.
After playing a few matches in the A division, Kwong said, “I feel that I can do well in the A division, I haven’t played anyone overpowering yet.”
Coach Derek Mills has been very satisfied with the play of the two freshman.
He described the two freshmen as, “Good players, that both played the way that they are capable of. After all, that is why we recruited them.”
The Rolex tournament in Tulsa is the next action for the Billiken tennis squad.
