Four, three, three. These are not the winning lotto picks. But they might be a lucky combination for the Saint Louis University women’s soccer team.
After losing 2-0 to the Cincinnati Bearcats last Friday, the Billikens decided to change their starting lineup and use three forwards (instead of two) along with three midfielders and four backs against the Louisville Cardinals last Sunday.
“We’re going to use three strikers for the rest of the year,” said coach Tim Champion. “We’re not going to move the ball as much as we have, but we hope that we can create more scoring opportunities. We’re still going to move the ball, but we’re going to be more direct. With the players we don’t have, we have to adjust. We’re going to get the ball up top and let our forwards attack.”
“With the three forwards, we have more offensive opportunities,” said junior forward Erin Schwetye. “We can have so much more pressure on the defense. We work well together. We all have good speed and see the field well. The key is that we move without the ball and can confuse the defense. We felt comfortable with the new system and executed well. We knew our role and adjusted quickly.”
The new lineup affects every position, not just the forwards.
“It affects us on both offense and defense,” said junior forward Mandy Trokey. “We have to play hardcore defense. With one less player, we have to shift back. When we get past midfield, we have to get the ball and move forward. We need to get the ball up top. Even though we’re using three forwards, we need to support them. There’ll be a lot of switching up top.”
The change worked perfectly for SLU, translating into countless scoring chances and a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals.
The game was over almost before it began. SLU scored just five minutes into the contest. Junior midfielder Shannon Myers had the ball near the midfield and chipped it ahead to freshman Jamie Perry.
Louisville keeper Meredith Miller came out to stop Perry. The ball took a strange bounce over Miller and Perry was able to life a shot over the retreating keeper.
Perry scored what proved to be the game-winning goal 17 minutes later. Schwetye hit a long through ball from the Billikens’ defensive third of the field up to Perry. Perry executed a long run past the Louisville defense and found herself one-on-one with Miller. She came off her line and tried to cut Perry off. But Perry waited until the last minute and flicked the ball inside the near post.
Louisville cut into the Billikens’ lead with eight minutes left in the first half. Leigh Carroll took a quick corner kick for Louisville. She found Mandy Rost on the endline. Rost moved across to the post to play the ball. Rost crossed the ball into the box and found Amber Jolley who scored from eight yards out.
SLU added an insurance goal with 12 minutes left in the game. Junior forward Jenny Kehl hit a through ball to Schwetye outside the box on the far side. Schwetye hit a shot from eight yards out that beat Miller to the lower left side inside the near post.
“This was the first time that we played within our system,” said junior goalie Meghann Burke. “We understood what we were trying to do and used the system. We showed our trust in it.”
SLU dropped a 2-0 decision to Cincinnati last Friday.
The Bearcats scored five minutes into the game off a corner kick into the box. Burke came out to stop the first shot. She did, but the rebound came out to Amy Simonson.
She hit a high shot that junior Megan McNiff headed out. The Bearcats Kristina Wilson gained possession of the header and scored in the far side of the goal.
Cincinnati added an insurance goal in the 70th minute. Anne Thomas hit a long lead pass to Kelly Rigsbee. She broke in alone on goal and hit a shot that hit the far post and bounced across and into the goal.
“We had the ball more,” Champion said. “They just finished and we didn’t. I was disappointed that we didn’t finish.”
The Billikens take to the road this weekend with C-USA games against Charlotte on Friday and East Carolina on Sunday.
“This will be a tough weekend,” Champion said. “But we’re capable of beating any team in the conference if we play well. It’ll be interesting to see how things go with the three strikers against good teams.”
Charlotte leads the overall series 3-2-1 with a 2-1-1 record against SLU in Charlotte. The teams tied 0-0 last season. The 49ers enter the game with a 7-3-2 record overall and a 5-1-0 mark in C-USA.
The Billikens have never played against East Carolina. The Pirates have a 7-6-0 record and a 4-2-0 record in their first season in the conference. ECU split a pair of games last weekend, defeating DePaul 2-0 last Friday before losing to Marquette 2-0 last Sunday.
