Some wins are impressive, but some are flat out off the charts.
Yesterday afternoon, the Saint Louis University men’s soccer team
beat DePaul putting their Conference USA record at 3-1-1 with an
overall 8-1-2 mark. Impressive.

The victory also marked the Bills seventh shutout of the season
and made their lifetime record against the Blue Demons to 13-0-0.
That’s off the charts.

In the shutout, SLU even got a chance to flex their defensive
depth. The Bills’ usual fixture in goal, Martin Hutton, sat out the
game and was replaced by backup keeper junior Jeff Sackman.

Sackman proved to be no less than perfect in his first
appearance of the season as he collected three saves in the game,
all of which came down the stretch. His defense also helped by
shutting down last week’s conference player of the week, Luke Rojo
of the Demons.

The first half was a scoreless affair; but SLU controlled the
flow of the game, outshooting DePaul 8-1.

The goal came 17 minutes into the second half. Freshman forward
Will John collected Casey Spiess’ wide shot and slipped it past
Michael Timilin, DePaul’s goalie. The goal adds up to John’s fifth
of the season as part of his 13 points.

“We faced a tough team in a difficult environment this
afternoon, so it’s good to get a hard-fought conference win on the
road,” coach Dan Donigan said of the game in a press release.

The win puts SLU in a tie with Marquette, whom the Bills tied
last week- for the lead in C-USA as they sit among a four-team
logjam that includes Charlotte and Cincinnati vying for the top
spot.

Last Saturday night, it was right down to the wire yet again for
SLU. This time, however, there would be no loss or tie. The Bills
emerged as victorious over East Carolina University.

With less than four minutes remaining and another overtime
seeming all but inevitable, Cooper McKee connected on a corner from
John DiRiamondo breaking the deadlock and sending SLU to the 2-1
victory, thus ending the Bills’ three game winless streak.

After trailing for all of the second half, ECU forward Robb Cann
scored the tying goal from 25-yards out late into the game at the
84-minute mark.

The deadlock had SLU looking at their seventh overtime game of
the season, until McKee’s goal went in less than three minutes
later.

SLU’s earlier goal came when freshman defender Dan Guffey found
fellow classmate Vedad Ibisevic who put the ball in on a breakaway,
25 minutes into the first half.

The Bills now have only a two-day break to prepare for Saturday
night’s Homecoming game against the University of South Florida
University. The Bulls come off a win against UAB, their first
victory in Conference play, putting them at 1-2-1. They also offer
one of the league’s most potent scoring threats in forward, Hunter
West.

Robert R. Hermann stadium will host what is usually a loud and
one of the mostwell-attended games of the year to help welcome the
Billikens back.

Homecoming Game
Who: University of South Florida

When: Saturday, 7 p.m.

Where: Robert R. Hermann Stadium