The Saint Louis University men’s soccer team strongly resembles
the Ohio State University football team from a year ago. Like the
Buckeyes, the Billikens are undefeated, but not all of their wins
or ties have been as flawless and easy as they would have liked.
Both teams played with injuries, went to numerous overtimes and
were faced with adversity on more than one occasion. However, when
all is said and done, both teams have one statistic that all teams
would love to have: zero losses.

Last night the Billikens hosted Western Illinois University in a
non-conference fixture. It turned out to be one of the highest
scoring matches in the history of Robert R. Hermann Stadium. The
Leathernecks got on the board first on a goal by Nowaf Jaman, as he
chipped the ball over Martin Hutton’s head from about 18 yards
out.

SLU responded in the 15th minute when Vedad Ibisevic headed in a
goal on a pass from John DiRamando. Two minutes later WIU had a
chance to take the lead, when Hutton fumbled a loose ball that
found its way to a WIU player who missed the wide open goal.

Play continued with SLU keeping the ball in their offensive third,
but they were unable to convert until late in the half. In the 43rd
minute DiRamando tapped in an easy goal off an assist from Will
John.

In the final minute of the first half, WIU’s Justin Langon was
taken down in the Billikens penalty box and was awarded a penalty
kick, which he converted. The half ended in a 2-2 tie.

Early in the second half, things got ugly for the Bills. In the
64th minute, WIU scored again as Langon again found the back of the
net, on a pass from T.J. Blackburn. Not one minute later, the
Leathernecks extended their lead as Jaman scored his second goal of
the game, this time from Bob Wallace that squeaked by Hutton,
finding Jaman on the far left post. In the blink of an eye, SLU had
fallen behind 4-2. Ten minutes after facing their worst deficit of
the season, the
Billikens rallied.

John was able to get a great pass from Ryan Wileman, which he
easily tapped by the goalie to cut the lead to 4-3.

Five minutes later, John struck again when he tapped a ball, which
deflected off the keeper, into the net. Wileman and Andy Pusateri
collected the assists. The regulation period ended with a 4-4 tie,
and the game headed to overtime. Both teams were fatigued and
neither team really put together a prime scoring chance. They both
had opportunities, but neither were able to convert, and after the
two 10-minute golden goal overtimes, the game ended in a tie. It
was the
first non-win for SLU this season.

Last weekend, the Bills traveled to Charlotte to take on the 49ers
in their first Conference USA match of the season.

SLU opened up the scoring, like they so often do, in the fourth
minute. Ibisevic got a head on a ball, which the 49ers goalie had
tried to punch clear, and it found its way to the back of the net
giving SLU a 1-0 lead. Just before half time, Charlotte was able to
score the equalizer when from 25 yards out, Juan Munoz-Airey
drilled a laser past a diving Hutton. In the 80th minute,
Charlotte
was forced to play a man down. Defender Mike Trinitapoli received
his second yellow card and was ejected from the game, subsequently
giving SLU a major advantage with just 10 minutes to play.

Although the remainder of regulation was spent in the 49ers half of
the field, SLU was unable to score the go-ahead goal and sent the
game into overtime. The first overtime provided no game winner, and
the teams got set to play overtime number two. Nine minutes into
the second overtime, SLU was able to finally put the game away.
Wileman received a pass from John and launched a shot that looked
as if it were heading wide. To advantage of the Bills, it nipped a
Charlotte defender and careened into the net, giving SLU the
victory and Wileman his first career
goal as a Billiken.

Coming off the disappointing tie, the team hosts Louisville in a
Conference USA
battle Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Hermann Stadium, where they will
look to get back
to their winning ways.