The Colonials of George Washington University became the first Atlantic 10 team to ice the Billikens, dropping Saint Louis University 2-0 on Friday afternoon.
SLU had been on a six-game winning streak, while the Colonials (5-8-3, 2-5-2 A-10) had lost three in a row entering Friday’s game.
The Colonials netted their first goal in the 52nd minute when forward Michael Rollings finished off a through ball played through the Billiken back line.
GWU midfielder Arturo Pedroso sent the ball into Rollings for the first tally of the game.
GWU closed the scoring by capitalizing on a Billiken mistake along the backline.
Rollings snatched a bad pass and put a shot past SLU goalkeeper Jeff Sackman. Rollings’ second goal came in the 72nd minute.
The Bills managed eight shots in the match, but only three of them were on goal.
Larry Geraghty led the SLU attack with three shots, one of which was on frame.
Andrew Moses had the only other Billiken shot on goal.
“It was a disappointing loss,” coach Dan Donigan said. “For whatever reason, I got the same feeling that I did after the Tulsa game-that our guys didn’t show up to play. I don’t know whether it was because it was a Friday or for lack of preparation.”
After posting their first loss in seven games at GWU, the Bills traveled to LaSalle University in Philadelphia to take on the Explorers (6-8-4, 3-3-2 A-10) in another A-10 match.
The Bills entered the match in need of a favorable decision to keep pace with first-place Duquesne, but came away with a 1-1 tie.
The Explorers notched the first goal of the match in the 12th minute of action when Scott Golden laced a ball into the net past Sackman.
Golden’s goal came off a long ball fed to him by teammate Matt Kelly.
SLU knotted the game at one goal apiece when Ryan Wileman ripped a shot into the LaSalle net in the 31st minute.
Kyle Patterson dropped the ball to Wileman off a throw-in, and Wileman shot the ball through traffic to even the score.
Wileman’s tally was his, and the Bills’, first since he buried the overtime game-winner against Duquesne on Oct. 22.
Two minutes later, Sackman stone-walled a penalty kick to keep the score even. Jeff France took his shot to the right post, and Sackman dove toward it to save the game for the Bills.
Overall, the Bills controlled the game, taking 20 shots and earning seven corners, but could not tally a game winner.
SLU sent eight of their shots on frame and came away with one goal.
“We outplayed them [LaSalle]. We played well enough to win and were just unfortunate not to get the second goal,” Donigan said.
The beat-up field conditions did not help the Bills’ attack, either.
“The facility was really sub-par,” Donigan said. “If that gets addressed, it’ll really help out our conference.”
SLU continues their road swing with matches at Charlotte on Friday and Richmond on Sunday.
The Bills need at least one win to stay ahead of Dayton in the A-10 standings.
Securing one of the top two seeds will give the Bills a first round bye in the A-10 tournament.
“We’re playing for a one- or two-seed to secure a bye in the tournament,” Donigan said. “We’re facing two quality opponents. Charlotte is still fighting for a spot in the tournament.”
Charlotte (5-7-3, 2-2-3 A-10) is a familiar opponent for the Bills, as both teams played in Conference USA last season.
Charlotte captured the last decision, 2-0, at Robert R. Hermann Stadium in St. Louis. SLU owns the series edge, 4-1, at Charlotte, winning last in 2003.
The 49ers boast Adam Ruud, who is tied as the second leading goal scorer in the A-10.
SLU’s John DiRaimondo also shares a piece of the second spot.
Each player has notched eight goals.
SLU will catch the Richmond Spiders in the midst of a seven-game winless streak.
Richmond (4-6-6, 0-3-4 A-10) has never faced the Bills, but should have some extra motivation, as the match will take place on Richmond’s Senior Day.
This will be SLU’s final tune- up before the A-10 tournament comes to St. Louis on Nov. 10-13.
