Remember when you were a little kid learning how to ride a bike? You begin by putting on your helmet, mounting the bike, stretching your legs to the pedals and start riding down the driveway.
You’d be doing everything right, not making any mistakes and actually getting better than the last time you tried.
But just when you thought you were getting the hang of it, you’d turn to wave or smile at your parents, and you would fall and scrape your knee on the pavement.
Right now, the Saint Louis University men’s soccer team has a few Batman and Strawberry Shortcake Band-Aids cluttering their scabbed knees.
Just as they seem to be clicking and coming together, a mental lapse here and a minor mistake there, knock the Bills off their bikes.
But they continue to get up and try again, each time getting better and more used to riding together. Before you know it, they are going to start knocking other teams off their bikes.
After a three-game road stretch, which produced no victories, the team heads back to SLU for the Nike Classic this weekend. The Billikens will play Southwest Missouri State and James Madison.
“It’s going to be good to get back to Hermann Stadium and play in front of our fans,” said coach Dan Donigan.
The most recent setback for the Bills came on Saturday in Milwaukee, where SLU fell to Marquette 1-0.
Marquette’s lone goal came in the 16th minute on Golden Eagle Bryan Godfrey’s corner kick to fellow senior Mike Robards, who beat SLU keeper Martin Hutton with a header from three years out.
That one goal would provide enough offense for Marquette to pull out a major victory over 13th-ranked SLU.
The Billikens had many chances to pull even or take the lead as they out-shot the Golden Eagles, 15-7.
“We played pretty well, but the little things continue to hurt us,” said coach Dan Donigan.
“Even when you’re playing well, the game can be won or lost in a split second, and that’s what happened tonight (Saturday),” he continued.
Minor mistakes have been plaguing the Bills all year, which resulted in a tie and loss in the first two games of the young season.
“We need to eliminate the little things that have prevented us from pulling out wins in all of our matches.
“This group has continued to improve week-to-week, and now we need to start stringing some wins together,” Donigan said.
The team will try to start stringing them together Friday night at 7 p.m. versus Southwest Missouri State (1-3-0).
“The SMS game is always a close, hard-fought and emotional match,” Donigan said.
This was especially evident last year when SLU squeezed out a 2-1 victory thanks to a goal in the 82nd minute by Dipsy Selolwane.
The Bills lead the all-time series 4-0-3, with every match versus the Bears being played here in St. Louis.
On Sunday, the Bills will take on James Madison at 2:30 p.m. The Dukes come to Hermann Stadium without a blemish on their perfect
4-0-0 record.
“James Madison is unbeaten and plays consistent, winning soccer every year,” Donigan said. “We faced JMU at Vanderbilt two years ago, so we’re familiar with the high caliber of soccer that they play.”
That meeting two years ago resulted in a 2-1 victory for the Dukes, who are 1-1 versus the Bills all time.
After the Billikens close out the tournament, they will have a week to gear up for the start of a string of Conference USA games.
