The Billikens cooked Air Force’s “Goose” as Jason Cole was “Top Gun,” scoring two goals, Wednesday.
The men’s soccer team won its eighth straight, but failed to shut out its opponent for the first time in five games.
“We had a couple guys out, so we had to make some shifts,” head coach Dan Donigan said, in reference to the absence of Joe Hammes, who received 5 yellow cards, and Nick Walls, who was injured in the previous game against Furman.
Nevertheless, the Bills scored early as Cooper McKee tallied his first goal of the year on an assist by Jack Jewsbury. McKee received a short pass from Jewsbury in the goal box, allowing him to knock the ball past Falcon goalie Mike Taylor.
The Bills would test Taylor throughout the first half, taking 11 shots and three corner kicks.
However, Cole and Jewsbury would add insult to injury in the 38th minute when Cole took a shot on goal, at point-blank range, that deflected off Taylor’s chin. Jewsbury followed the rebound, cutting through two defenders, pounding the ball into the net.
The Billikens played tenacious defense with their offense in the first half by controlling the ball and keeping it on the Falcon’s side of the field, allowing only three shots.
The second half brought a more conservative Billiken defense that began to crack under Air Force’s physical game.
Seven minutes into the second half the Falcon’s Collin Eames had a shot from the right side that took a Billiken-bounce off the post.
However, Tino Diaz would cut the Billiken’s 2-0 lead in half in the 70th minute on an assist from Thomas Clark.
The Billikens rallied around this challenge and would score five minutes later when Jason Cole scored the first of his two goals. Andrew Moses crossed the ball in front of the net, where Jewsbury tapped the ball towards goal. Cole blazed towards ball, just knocking it over the line for a goal.
Only five minutes later Cole would score his second goal when Moses lofted a corner kick in the goal box, allowing Cole to head the ball past Taylor, solidifying a Billiken victory.
David Austin scored for the Falcons with five minutes left in the game, making the final score 4-2.
When asked about Cole’s game, Donigan replied, “He’s capable of doing more.”
Last weekend Pusateri led the Bills to a 2-0 victory over Furman, at the time ranked 10th. In the 4th minute of the game, Pusateri maneuvered through numerous defenders and got off a rocket from about ten yards out to give the Bills a 1-0 lead.
Later in the half the Bills were able to capitalize off a Danny Wynn shot that hit the crossbar and came out to Jewsbury. Jewsbury then fired a shot back in toward the net that found a spot in the back right corner of the goal. That is all the offense SLU would need as the defense posted its 5th straight shutout, led by Pusateri who was named Conference USA’s defensive player of the week.
Also being honored this week was Jewsbury, who was selected to College Soccer News’ Team of the Week. Jewsbury has been on fire as of late offensively and has been an integral part of the team’s success during their seven game winning streak.
