After a five-game road trip and a disappointing overtime loss Saturday night at Homecoming, the Billikens picked up a much-needed 3-2 victory Sept. 30 over Missouri-Kansas City.
For the Bills, who fell to Tulsa in front of nearly 5,000 fans during the Homecoming game on a fluke overtime goal, the UMKC game presented an opportunity to get back on track before the start of conference play.
“We saw this game as a must-win,” senior Kyle Hayes said about the UMKC match. The Billikens came into the game with a losing record on the season.
After the first 50 minutes of soccer on Sept. 30 it looked like the Billikens would only worsen that disappointing record. UMKC (2-5-1) got on the board first, 33 minutes into the game, when sophomore Sean Butler redirected a pass from Bryan Perez to give the Kangaroos a 1-0 lead. Just after halftime, UMKC added another tally when freshman David Sarabia converted a corner kick, and gave the Kangaroos a 2-0 advantage.
After losing Sept. 26, and facing a 2-0 deficit on their home turf, the Billikens had their work cut out for them. But solid midfield play and effective communication led to a flurry of opportunities, and eventually led to three Billiken goals.
The first came on a penalty kick 64 minutes in. After Stephen Bortolon was taken down in the offensive box, senior defender Tim Ream outfoxed UMKC’s goalkeeper by placing the ball on the ground off the right post, and cut the Kangaroos’ lead in half.
Seven minutes later, sophomore Beau Bellamy scored his second goal of the season off a pass from teammate James Jaramillo. Bellamy’s goal tied the game with less than 20 minutes to play, and led to a physical and aggressive ending to an already electrifying match.
The game winner came in the 78th minute, when Ream again found himself on the offensive end of the field, centering a pass on the ground from the left side. Senior Kyle Hayes was able to get past the defender and jab the ball into the nearside netting, scoring his first goal of the season, and putting the Billikens on top, 3-2.
“A win like this can make a big difference down the road,” head coach Dan Donigan said after the game was over. He admits that the team has not played as well as they could have in their first eight games, but he hopes Wednesday night’s win could be a momentum changer.
