Road games haven’t been the kindest to the Saint Louis University men’s soccer team this season.
However, it was on the road that the Billikens were looking to gain momentum last week before heading home to the friendly confines of Robert R. Hermann Stadium, where SLU’s last home match, and the Conference USA tournament, will take place.
The Bills got that momentum in a much-needed road victory over the Memphis Tigers (8-7-1) last Saturday night. Led by Jack Jewsbury and Jason Cole, the team was able to pull out a 2-1 victory on a soggy and dreary night in Memphis.
With the rain pouring down, the Bills were able to get on the board in the first minute, as Kevin Wickart found Cooper McKee, who dropped a pass for Jewsbury to fire home from about 12 yards out.
That put the Billikens on top 1-0 and the score would stay that way for the rest of the first half and most of the second.
Late in the second half, the Bills were able to find the back of the net again, as Cole netted a great lob pass from Nick Walls. It was Cole’s C-USA-leading 14th goal of the season, and it put the Bills up 2-0 with just under seven minutes to play.
However, less than three minutes later, Memphis cut the lead in half as Matt Bryant headed a pass from Ronnie Nillson past Billiken goalie Martin Hutton. Despite heavy pressure the rest of the way out from the Tigers, the Bills held on for only their second win on the road this season.
“The early goal helped us, and then we could relax a bit,” Walls said. “The game continued to go back and forth, and we fought well, despite the weather and the less-than-kind fans.”
The win gave the Billikens a spark as they head home to play East Carolina University this Saturday at 7 p.m. The game is very important for the Bills because a win will vault them into a tie for the conference title, which will prove vital for seeding in the conference tournament.
“It’s a big game, because it’s senior night, and there are a lot of seniors and we are all good friends, Walls said. ” The second reason is that we need this win to share the Conference USA title with Marquette.”
The team isn’t overlooking East Carolina and knows that, if they play their game, they can pull out yet another victory.
“We just need to play our game, and not overlook them, because you sometimes have the tendency to overlook the less-skilled teams. We just need to do what we’ve done all season and feed off the crowd,” Walls said.
Also at Saturday’s game, former SLU soccer player Brian McBride will have his number retired during a halftime ceremony.
McBride is the most recognized player to ever wear a SLU jersey and has gone on to success in Major League Soccer and on the U.S. National team.
