The Saint Louis University men’s soccer team came out firing
early in their 8-0 victory over the University of Missouri-St.
Louis Rivermen.
The Billikens took control of the match early in the game and
managed five shots in the first 10 minutes, before Ryan Wileman
scored the Bills’ first regular-season goal.
The Rivermen set up the SLU chance by fouling sophomore John
DiRaimondo just outside of the penalty area. Junior Danny Wynn
served the resulting free kick to Wileman, who netted the header
goal from 12 yards out.
UMSL quickly countered against the Bills after the goal, as the
kick-off resulted in a run to the goal from the Rivermen’s Doug
Drezek. Drezek pushed his shot wide right and was the last
challenge that Sackman would face.
The first half was characterized by continued SLU pressure in
the attacking third of the field that forced seven UMSL fouls. The
Bills were able to retain possession throughout most of the first
half, and there were few UMSL touches in the SLU defensive
half.
Sophomore Will John netted the second Billiken goal just 3:58
seconds after Wileman struck with the first. John took possession
of the ball off junior Alex Matteson’s blocked shot with his back
to the UMSL goal and spun around to fire a left-footed shot into
the back of the net.
The Billiken offense struck again in the 18th minute on a
Matteson shot from 30 yards out. Matteson made the most of a pass
from Wileman and sent the shot into the upper-right corner of the
net.
Matteson was involved in three of the SLU goals on the night,
including an assist on DiRaimondo’s goal in the 26th minute.
John continued his offensive show in the 35th minute when he
sent a one-timer home from six yards out.
John’s second goal came off of a centering cross from freshman
defender Tim Ward from the right corner of the field. Junior Casey
Spiess also earned an assist on the goal.
John closed out his night with his third goal of the game in the
last minute of the first half. After receiving the ball from Ward,
John carried the ball within 10 yards of the goal before rifling it
into the left side of the net.
one-third of the total goals that he had in 2003 and set a new
personal best with three goals in the game. Wednesday’s game also
marked John’s first NCAA hat trick.Ward was also an important
player in the Bills’ offensive explosion. He cycled up from the
back line to take four shots and tally two assists, both on John’s
goals. Ward and John played together during the off-season on the
U.S. Under-20 National team.
“We want [Ward] to go forward,” said coach Dan Donigan. “He can
control the tempo of the game at any position on the field. He’s
going to be shifted around this season.”
Donigan took advantage of the six-goal half-time lead and
allowed his bench to play through the entire second half. Andrew
Reeder came off the bench to lead the team with 64 minutes and
assisted on Eddie Parker’s header goal in the 52nd minute.
Junior Andrew Moses and Sophomore Casey Spiess each picked up 57
minutes off the bench, and Moses got the assist of freshman Vince
Vitale’s first NCAA goal in the 66th minute.
“It was a good opportunity for some guys to get quality
minutes,” Donigan said. “I’m really happy with everybody. We’re
finding that we’re having more and more options now.”
“It was a good start of the season to prepare us mentally,” John
said. “It’s always fun to play, but we can’t come out and say we
can have a dip in form.”
“It was a little unfair for UMSL to turn around from their West
Coast trip and play us,” Donigan said. “Even in an 8-0 win, we
still see some good things. Tonight we got to throw Will [John] up
front and put Alex [Matteson] in the middle. No matter who you
play, I expect to come out hard and play crisp soccer.”
SLU travels to Marquette on Saturday, Sept. 4 for their
Conference-USA opener.
Marquette battled the Bills to a 0-0 tie in their meeting last
year in St. Louis. Marquette topped SLU 1-0 in their last meeting
in Milwaukee, in 2002.
“We want to get up there early,” Donigan said. “We would love to
get out on the road and get that conference win early.”
