After defeating the Southwest Missouri State Bears 2-1 Wednesday night, it might be fair to say that the Saint Louis University Billikens have finally become tired of kissing their sisters.
For the first time in two years, the No. 4 ranked Billikens and the Bears did not play to a 1-1 tie. Forwards Dipsy Selolwane and Jack Jewsbury punched in the Billikens’ two clutch goals en route to an impressive defeat of their pesky intrastate rival in front of a strong contingent of Billiken fans.
“It was a great result. Southwest, regardless of their national ranking, is a great team, but has had some tough losses to some good teams. They get geared up to play us every year so we knew it would be tough,” said coach Dan Donigan.
Dipsy continued his scoring rampage for SLU with his go-ahead goal with 8:18 remaining in the match. Dipsy showed a little muscle to go along with his quickness as he bodied up on SMS defender Dan Watson.
Just as Matt Pickens, the Bears’ sophomore goalkeeper, came up to clear the ball, Dipsy wedged the ball just right of the keeper’s reach. The ball inched its way into the net to give the Bills the lead, and ultimately, the win.
The goal gave Dipsy his fourth tally in just five games for the Bills this season.
As it has all season, Dipsy’s play impressed Donigan, whose team has improved their season record to a sparkling 5-0.
“We really received a great individual effort from Dipsy. He came through for us tonight like he has all season,” Donigan said.
Despite the victory, Donigan remarked on the team’s need for improvement.
“I’m happy, but not satisfied with the game tonight. I can’t complain about the outcome, but I saw a lot of room for improvement. We made some noticeable mistakes but we came away with a big victory tonight,” Donigan said.
One Billiken mistake came just eight minutes into the second half of the match. Southwest Missouri State’s Jamal Sutton stole the ball from the foot of senior back Tim Sartori.
Sutton, a sophomore forward, penetrated down the field and rifled a shot into the left half of the goal past an off-balance John Politis to tie the game at 1-1.
“Giving up that goal was just a missed assignment. A mistake like that is going to happen out there. We realized what went wrong and the problem was corrected right away. Other than that, the flow of the game was consistent. We were able to keep the ball in our third of the field in the second half,” Donigan said.
Despite being a little sloppy early, Jewsbury was able to force his way into the Bear’s territory and score the game’s first goal.
Just 10 minutes into the game, sophomore forward Brad Davis skimmed the ball right off the tip of a SMS opponent’s head. The ball landed right into the chest of a streaking Jewsbury who sent the ball in the lower left corner of the net. The goal catapulted the Billikens to a 1-0 lead.
“They (SMS) gave up the middle of the field. They just left it open. Brad saw a space left between their backs. I got the ball of my chest and was able to send the ball into the net,” Jewsbury said.
For Jewsbury, a junior forward, finally beating SMS had a special meaning.
“It was great beating my hometown team. We finally got over the hump. For the last few years we have tied 1-1. This is the first time we’ve beaten them since I’ve been at SLU. This is the biggest game of the year for me. It means a lot to me to finally beat them,” Jewsbury said.
Wednesday night’s game was more of a defensive battle than anything. Both teams struggled to get past the opponent’s defenders.
The Billikens were aided by the defensive intensity of junior Jason Cole and senior Dave Beck. Politis denied a number of shots on goal as well.
SLU will remain at home this Saturday to play its new Conference USA rival Texas Christian University at 7 p.m. at Hermann Stadium. Saturday night’s game is SLU’s Homecoming.
Donigan’s Billikens are looking forward to playing the Horned Frogs for the first time as they hope to improve on their more than impressive undefeated record.
“This is an important game for us. They are new to our conference and we have never played them before,” Donigan said. “I think it will be a good game and it will be nice to play them in front of a homecoming crowd. We just need to continue to prepare for this game like we have been all year.”
