The 10th-ranked Saint Louis University Billikens (3-3-0, 1-0-0
Conference USA) entered the St. John’s Nike Classic last Friday
coming off of a win over No. 11 Virginia, but were sent home with
empty hands. The Bills not only failed to collect a win in the
tournament, but were shut-out twice.

SLU started the weekend cold, playing to a 3-0 loss at the hands
of the unranked George Mason University Patriots (3-3). SLU did not
manage a shot until the 22nd minute when junior Danny Wynn pushed a
shot wide off the left post.

GMU tallied their first goal of the match in the 26th after a
SLU miscue in the midfield left the ball on Teba McKnight’s feet.
McKnight beat freshman goalkeeper Pat Disbennett for the score.

The Patriots struck again just eight minutes later when GMU won
control of a SLU clearing attempt and fired it back into the
penalty area. Barry Suber took possession of the ball and sent it
into the back of the net from 12 yards out. Suber’s shot also
contributed to the 10-4 shot advantage that the Patriots held over
the Bills in the first half.

The Bills’ best scoring chance of the first half came in the
43rd minute, when sophomore Alex Matteson found sophomore Will John
about seven yards wide of the goal for one of his seven shots in
the match. John, however, sent his shot off of the goalpost.

The SLU offense seemed to bounce back in the beginning of the
second half as the Billiken attack earned six corner kicks in the
first 15 minutes. John did his best to take advantage of the
corners, managing three shots off of just one corner in the 51st
minute. After GMU goalkeeper John O’Hara blocked John’s first shot
from eight yards out, John collected the rebound and shot it
towards the goal, but defender Anthony Noriega blocked it. John
collected the second rebound and tried to make the most of it, but
O’Hara once again turned John away, as he pushed the ball over the
touch line.

The Patriots finally buried the Bills in the 70th minute when
what appeared to be a cross attempt deflected off Disbennett’s
gloves into the net.

The underdog Patriots outplayed the Bills, holding SLU to only
three shots on goal.

“The entire team didn’t show up on Friday,” coach Dan Donigan
said.

The competition only got stiffer for the Bills as they turned
around for a game the next day in New York against No. 7 St. John’s
University (4-1-1). Once again, the Billikens gave up an early goal
and could not climb back into the game, losing 1-0 in their second
straight shut-out loss.

The two losses over the weekend were the first time the Bills
have fallen in back-to-back shutouts during Donigan’s tenure as
head coach.

St. John’s took advantage of a Billiken foul outside of their
penalty area and turned the free kick into a goal. Freshman Steven
Old put a header past junior Jeff Sackman from six yards out in the
17th minute to put the Red Storm ahead for good.

The Bills never mounted a dangerous attack on the St. John’s
goal in the first half, and only managed one shot on goal in the
entire game.

SLU has also been working to overcome the injury bug. Sackman
played in his first game on Saturday since Sept. 4 at Marquette
where he suffered a leg injury. Senior goalkeeper Martin Hutton has
been on the mend since he had abdominal surgery over the summer,
but has been practicing with the team this week. Sophomore defender
Mo Benne has been nursing a foot injury since the Marquette game
and has not played since.

“Everybody is available now,” Donigan said. “Mo [Benne] is the
only question but he still has four days to make that
decision.”

The Bills have a chance to turn around their short skid on
Saturday when they travel to the University of South Florida.

The Bulls (5-0-0, 2-0-0 C-USA) were pre-season picks to finish
third in C-USA and should prove to be a stiff challenge for the
Bills.

USF downed Southern Methodist University 3-0 over the weekend,
which was the third of their fourth shut-out victories. SMU
defeated the Bills in a 1-0 overtime victory during the Saint Louis
Nike Classic.

“USF will be battling for the regular season title,” Donigan
said. “Their win over SMU shows the parody in college soccer.”