The Saint Louis University men’s soccer team made a huge statement to the college soccer world this past weekend.

Due to a 1-0 win against No. 10 Rutgers on Friday night and a 2-1 triumph over No. 4 North Carolina on Sunday, both wins in the Nike Classic, SLU has moved up to No. 4 in the NSCAA poll and No. 3 in the media rankings.

“We’re definitely not intimidated by anyone,” said SLU head coach Dan Donigan. “Any and every time we step onto the field, we feel we have the ability to beat our opponent, regardless of who they are. After last weekend’s results, we reassured ourselves of that confidence.”

In the first half against Rutgers the Billikens couldn’t find the back of the net, but goalkeeper John Politis came up with a few key saves to keep the game scoreless.

In the second half, senior transfer Dipsy Selolwane came to the rescue.

With 15 minutes to play, Selolwane ran down a defender and stole the ball near the top of Rutgers penalty box.

The forward from Botswana turned and froze one defender with a quick move and placed the ball into the right side of the net from 15 yards out. This opportunity was one of SLU’s only good scoring chances of the second half.

Rutgers’ coaches couldn’t believe that Selolwane wasn’t called for a foul when he stripped the ball from the Scarlet Knights defender. The controversial no-call went in the Billikens’ favor.

“Any referee’s judgment can be looked at as controversial if you end up on the negative side of the call,” Donigan said. “After watching the tape, I felt it could have gone either way. But that’s soccer-it’s part of the game.”

In the 80th minute, SLU nearly scored again. Selolwane ran down a well-placed long ball that had gotten behind the defense. Rutgers goalie J.D. Martin came off his line to stop Selolwane, but took him down in the process.

The deliberate foul resulted in a Martin yellow card and a SLU penalty kick. SLU could have put the game out of reach, but Martin made a great save on Brad Davis’ penalty kick to the lower right corner.

After the missed penalty kick, Rutgers had many chances to even the score. With seven minutes to play, Politis made a diving stab to his right to stop a 30-yard blast.

One minute later, Rutgers had another great chance off a cross, but a shot from 12 yards out went over the right side of the crossbar. In the 85th minute, Politis made a great play on another hard shot from more than 30 yards out.

“We knew that they were going to come at us with everything they had,” said Politis. “But it’s my job to stop any scoring threats that break through the defense. I had to make some plays, but we stepped up defensively as a team.”

The Billikens held on for victory, but a tough North Carolina squad waited for a highly anticipated Sunday showdown.

SLU controlled possession for most of the first half, but failed to get any dangerous scoring chances. In the 33rd minute, UNC’s Matt Crawford nailed a 25-yard shot from the right side of the field that went into the upper left corner of the net.

SLU was losing for the first time this year. Since the ball was perfectly placed, Politis couldn’t make a play on it.

At halftime SLU regrouped. In the final 45 minutes, SLU had many chances inside the penalty box. Selolwane put the Bills on the scoreboard in the first 10 minutes with a diving header from six yards out. He has three goals and an assist in three games this season.

“He’s added that scrappiness in the box that we need,” Politis said. “He’s a natural goal scorer.”

With one minute to play and the game appeared headed for overtime, Nick Walls netted the game winner. Marty Tappel chipped a ball over the defense that Walls ran down on the right side of the box.

With his back to the goal, the junior forward split two defenders and beat the goalie to the near post from six yards out.

“We told the guys that they needed to make more legitimate opportunities on goal once we reached the final third,” Donigan said. “In the second half, we created those opportunities and cashed in on them.”

As champions of the Nike Classic, Mike Kirchhoff, Marty Tappel, Politis and Selolwane made the All-Tournament team.

In addition, Kirchhoff was named Conference USA’s Defensive Player of the Week for the period ending Sept. 9.

SLU was set to travel to Dallas this weekend to face Southern Methodist and Florida International, but the tournament was canceled due to Tuesday’s tragedy.

The Bills next play at home on Wednesday, Sept. 26 against Southwest Missouri State.