The Saint Louis University Billikens dropped their season-opener 2-1 against the Northern Illinois University Huskies on Saturday, Aug. 27, at Robert Hermann Stadium.

Gael Rivera, assisted by Finn Jor, gave NIU a 1-0 lead at the 35:53 mark in the first half. Paul Hogan collected a Mark Pais save and banged it in from close range to make it 2-0 NIU with just under three minutes to play in the first half.

NIU’s offense would go silent in the second half, but SLU couldn’t catch a break. Freshman Raymond Lee scored SLU’s lone goal at the 57:42 mark in the second half. The Billikens had several attempts in the last two minutes but couldn’t net a goal.

SLU returns to play on Friday, Sept. 2, at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind., when they take on No. 17 Indiana.

“This is not how we wrote it up, we have to do a better job defensively … at the end of the day, you have to make those plays in the box,” head coach Mike McGinty said following the game. “[But], I liked the fact that we scored when we were down two goals. There was a good spirit, a good fight. No one panicked, no one pointed the finger at somebody else. That’s promising, that no one got too down, which they could have done.

“The good thing about having so many competitive games is you don’t have time to dwell on it. You learn some things, and you move on to the next match.”

Senior Mike Roach sat with a hip flexor “issue” and junior Alex Sweetin, sporting a protective boot, is nursing a Achilles’s tendon injury, according to McGinty. Both are expected to return healthy within the next week.

The Bills next home tilt is Saturday, Sept. 10, against defending NCAA Men’s Soccer National Champion Akron.