A few weeks ago, the Saint Louis University men’s soccer team was waiting.
They were waiting for the new players to settle in with the team and they were waiting for the returning players to return to the level of play exhibited last season.
Finally, the wait is over. The freshmen and transfer students have found their niches with the Billikens, have impacted the lineup significantly and have meshed with the returning players to become a Conference USA powerhouse.
The Billiken lineup has experienced changes that have revived the ragged Bills after a slow start.
Most significantly, senior Jason Cole moved from the backfield to the forward position and has been virtually unstopable.
“Jason’s a handful up top, and he’s going to do his damage,” said coach Dan Donigan in a release. “He’s a problem for every team we play.”
In addition to moving Cole to the backfield, the Bills changed their lineup by moving junior Andy Pusateri from midfield to defense.
After a 0-2-1 start, the Bills have won four straight games and haven’t looked back. The most recent victory came against conference foe Charlotte last night in a 2-0 shutout. On Saturday night the Bills shutout the UAB Blazers 3-0.
Cole put the Billikens ahead in the third minute last night. In the 64th minute, the Billikens pushed another shot past the 49ers. Nick Walls brought the ball up from midfield and centered the ball to Cooper McKee.
McKee launched a shot toward the goal, only to have it knocked down. Luck was on the side of the Bills as Charlotte’s Shane Carew tried to clear the ball, but ended up putting the ball in his own net.
Saturday night, the Bills scored in the 13th minute against UAB when Walls slipped a shot in from 18 yards.
A few minutes later, the Billikens threatened the Blazers again when a scramble in front of the UAB net gave the Bills a chance to increase their lead.
Cole, Wynn and Mike Kirchoff battled to advance the ball, but UAB’S defense bounced the ball out while their goalkeeper was on the ground after a nasty dive.
In the second half, a ball was deflected off a Blazer defender and found its way to the feet of Joe Hammes.
Hammes rocketed the ball from 25 yards outside to increase the Billikens’ lead to 2-0.
The final goal of the evening in the 76th minute came when Jack Jewsbury’s shot was deflected to Hammes, who netted it from 18 yards.
“Obviously, our hard work is paying dividends. We’ve moved some people around and finally found what’s working,” Donigan said. “The best thing I saw was the way we came out and started very aggressive. We came out at the whistle and sustained that effort for 90 minutes.”
The aggressiveness was primarily present whenever the Blazers threatened offensively.
A few great plays in the back earned praise from Donigan: “Our backs, Nick Gannon, Andy Pusateri and Kevin Wickart have all stepped it up.
But even while the team is excelling and winning games, there are still things they need to work on.
“We still need to improve on the little things we are always harping on. We need to play hard, intense soccer for 90 minutes. What I’d like for us to do is match the other team’s work rate. We need to work just as hard as they do, and hopefully surpass it (the other team’s work rate),” Donigan said.
Fresh off last night’s win the Bills will travel to Louisville to take on yet another conference opponent this Saturday at 7 p.m.
