Saint Louis University was in need of a Conference USA victory
to stay afloat in the tournament seeding standings when they
stepped on to the field Friday night, and the team delivered.

Sophomore Will John netted the only goal in the Billikens’
slow-paced shutout victory over the East Carolina Pirates.

The Bills attacked the East Carolina net from the beginning of
the game, firing 10 shots at the Pirate net in the first half.

Goalkeeper Brian Pope turned away two SLU chances in the first
half to keep the Bills off of the scoreboard early.

The first Billiken chance came in the 14th minute when sophomore
Alex Matteson ripped a shot on net, but Pope made the save. Pope
also smothered a shot from John in the 29th minute. John’s chance
resulted from quick passes that cut through the Pirate back
line.

Junior Ryan Wileman created a chance in the 19th minute by
stealing an East Carolina pass and sending a long ball ahead to
Matteson. The pass, however, was too long for Matteson to run down
and instead ran harmlessly away.

SLU finally struck when junior Danny Wynn sent a pass to John
inside the Pirate penalty area, where John took a shot from four
yards out.

John’s shot hit the right post and rolled into the net, to give
the Bills their 1-0 lead in the 35th minute, approaching the
half.

John’s goal and stifling defense was enough to smother the
Pirates. East Carolina managed only four shots, 10 less than the
Bills, and did not earn any corner kicks.

SLU goalkeepers Pat Disbennett and Jeff Sackman each made two
stops to split the shutout.

Senior Martin Hutton did not start on Friday because of concerns
over the number of goals that the Bills had given up in games
throughout the season.

SLU came into Sunday’s game against the No. 8 Indiana Hoosiers
(13-3-1) in the midst of a scoring drought, tallying only one goal
in their last three games.

Indiana’s stifling defense, however, choked the SLU attack, only
yielding three shots on goal in the game.

Indiana immediately controlled the tempo of the game, spending
most of the time in the SLU defensive half. Junior midfielder
Jordan Chirico beat Hutton in the 14th minute for the first goal of
the game. Sophomore Jacob Peterson fed a pass to Chirico, who sent
the ball past Hutton’s left side into the net to give IU the
lead.

The Hoosiers held the lead until the 90th minute, but both teams
had chances to add to their scores. Peterson made a run at the SLU
net on a breakaway in the 16th minute, but Hutton came out to meet
him at the top of the penalty area, deflecting the ball away.

The Bills’ best chance came when senior Brett Branan hit a
header off of a corner kick that hit the top of the crossbar and
was cleared away in the 34th minute.

The Bills only managed seven shots throughout the game and had
trouble creating or capitalizing on scoring chances.

SLU finally tallied a goal in the 90th minute, but not without
the expense of an injury to their captain.

Wileman jumped to win a cross out of the air, but instead
collided goalkeeper Jay Nolly and the goalpost with 16.7 seconds
remaining in regulation. Wileman hit the post and then fell to the
ground, landing on his back. He walked off on his own power after
being helped up by the trainers.

Nolly punched the ball over the end line, resulting in a
Billiken corner.

The stoppage for the injury gave the Bills enough time to bring
all 11 players into the attacking third for a desperation chance at
scoring off of the corner.

Sophomore Brian Grazier collected the ball off of the corner and
sent it to the feet of freshman Brandon Gasparovic, who buried a
shot from 10 yards away. The goal, Gasparovic’s first of his
career, tied the game at one with 7.6 seconds remaining in
regulation.

“I just tried to flick it towards the goal, just to see what
would happen,” Gasparovic said.

The goal sent the game into overtime, but Indiana buried the
Bills’ hopes of stealing the game from the Hoosiers.

With just 1:29 gone in the first golden goal overtime period,
Peterson sent a shot toward the SLU net and Branan headed it down
into the ground.

The ball bounced back up, heading toward the net.

Freshman Tim Ward made an attempt to clear the ball over the
crossbar but arrived too late and helped the ball on its way over
the goal line.

Peterson’s shot looked as if it would fly wide of the net but
was sent on goal by the SLU deflections for another tally.

“Brett [Branan] has got to make the effort to make that block,”
said coach Dan Donigan.

“To be there at the end and give up a goal with a minute and a
half gone in overtime is disappointing,” Donigan said.

“I told our guys that we didn’t want to give up anything
defensively. We need to have support and cover within our own 18
[yard box].”

The game was a continuation of the scoring problems that SLU has
been experiencing throughout the year.

“We didn’t have anything offensively. I didn’t see energy in my
front runners. It’s been a problem all year,” Donigan said. “There
weren’t a whole lot of guys on the team who played up to where they
should have been.”

SLU now has until Nov. 11 to prepare for the conference
tournament. The break is a spell that Donigan now looks forward
to.

“I think some guys need it physically, and there are a certain
number of guys who need it mentally as well,” Donigan said.

With their win over East Carolina, SLU (8-7-1, 5-3-1 C-USA)
moved into position for the third seed in the C-USA tournament,
behind Cincinnati and Memphis.

With their victory over Louisville Wednesday night, UAB has
moved within one point of the Bills in the overall standings. With
a win over ninth place DePaul on Saturday, UAB would move ahead of
SLU in the C-USA standings. A tie would force a three-way points
deadlock with Cincinnati and SLU.

The C-USA tournament will be played from the 11th through the
14th of November in Louisville.