The Saint Louis University men’s soccer team continues to push its way deeper into the history books. You will have to go all the way back to 1979 to find the last time SLU has jumped out to a 9-0-0 start.
With a 4-0 victory over Conference USA rival Cincinnati on Saturday the Billikens amended that statistic and chalked up their ninth consecutive victory.
The usual suspects-senior Dipsy Selolwane, junior Jack Jewsbury and sophomore Brad Davis-found themselves in the middle of SLU’s scoring once again. Senior Mike Hill joined the tantalizing trio as the second-ranked Billikens posted four unanswered goals against Cincinnati.
Senior John Politis dominated the Bearcats, posting his third shutout of the season and earning him the well-deserved C-USA defensive player of the week honor. The Bills battled through some obstacles at Cincinnati’s Meyers Field, but the outcome was the same. Another Billiken win.
“We needed to make some adjustments at halftime, because we just weren’t quite clicking,” said coach Dan Donigan in a SLU press release. “It’s the first time that we’ve played on Cincinnati’s new artificial grass surface, and it took us a while to get used to it. Throw in some rain, and it’s the kind of challenging environment that good teams have to play through.”
It took the Billikens only 16 minutes to get adjusted in the first half, as Jewsbury initiated the scoring with a diving header from 11-yards out. The play was initiated by a Davis chip shot that ricocheted off the back post.
The Billikens and the Bearcats stepped up the defense for the remainder of the half. SLU went into halftime leading 1-0 despite being out-shot by Cincinnati 8-3.
The Bills defense did not let up in the second half. Politis proved himself once again in a key match-up by notching nine saves Saturday night, including two point-blank shots on goal. His play not only kept the 355 Bearcat fans in attendance silent, it continued to impress Donigan.
“John is at the peak of his game in every facet, from blocking shots to communicating with and organizing our defense. He made a couple of outstanding saves to keep the game scoreless and denied Cincinnati a couple of more times when we had a one-goal advantage,” Donigan said. “John has proven time and again this year that he is a big-time keeper, because he has consistently made the critical save in the crucial moment of the match.”
Thanks to the play of Politis, the Billikens held on to a 1-0 lead until the game’s 71st minute. Then the Bills turned on the electricity and pulled away from Cincinnati.
Davis made his mark on the Bearcats when he beat goalkeeper Sacha Nathu on a break-in off a ball from Dipsy. Two minutes later, Dipsy did his magic again with another assist. This time Hill joined in on the action as he poked in his first goal of the season at 72:10.
Dipsy added a goal of his own in the 81st minute of play, with assists coming from Hill and Davis. Dipsy laid a shot over a charging Nathu into the open net, putting the Bills on top 4-0. Dipsy’s goal marked his ninth consecutive game with a goal. The streak is the best since Steve Sullivan scored in 11 consecutive game in the 1979 season.
Despite struggling early on, the Billikens once again rose to the occasion, putting together another impressive SLU victory.
“Every time this group has faced some difficulty, they’ve answered the challenge. We finished well in the second half and Politis was outstanding tonight,” Donigan said.
The Billikens will put their undefeated record and their national ranking on the line as they return home to Robert R. Hermann Stadium to face the 18-ranked South Florida Bulls this Saturday at 7 p.m.
