Bills’ resilient rally comes up short at Drake
The Billikens wrapped up their non-conference schedule with a 4-3 loss at Drake this past Saturday, Oct. 1. The men’s soccer squad at Saint Louis University (2-5-1) finished one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation, playing five top-25 ranked opponents. The team still managed the squeak out wins against No. 11 Notre Dame and No. 16 South Florida.
“I would give our team a C for their performance during the non-conference schedule,” Head Coach Mike McGinty said.
That is all in the rear-view mirror as they begin their Atlantic-10 conference schedule this weekend with a road trip to the east coast.
They will take on the University of Rhode Island Rams and the University of Massachusetts Minutemen this weekend. The match against the Rams is slated for Friday, Oct. 8 at 6 p.m. The Bills will then travel to Amherst, Mass. for a high-noon Sunday showdown against the Minutemen.
SLU did show they have some fight left in them, judging by their rally against Drake.
Drake led 2-0 going into halftime after Thomas Ostrander (30:46) and Hunter Kennedy (35:58) scored. Ostrander scored his second goal in the 54th minute, and Drake held a commanding 3-0 lead. The Billikens started a rally spearheaded by Mike Roach, who scored his first goal in the 57th minute. William Hidalgo scored in the 69th minute, and Raymond Lee notched the equalizer in the 81st minute with a team-leading fourth goal. Both goals were assisted by Roach.
Despite their comeback, the Billikens could not manage a tie when all was said and done. Just five minutes after Lee tied the game, Drake’s Matt Kuhn scored to secure a 4-3 victory for the Bulldogs.
It will be interesting to see how the Bills fare in conference play after such a strenuous non-conference schedule.
Following their trip to the eastern seaboard, the Bills then have a two-game weekend home-stand against Duquesne and St. Bonaventure. These two games will be good chances for the squad to pick up their first win for the home crowd at Robert R. Hermann stadium this season.
They will host Duquesne on Friday, Oct. 14, and then the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure will take the field against the Billikens the ensuing Sunday, Oct. 16. The Bonnies bring some serious talent to the pitch. Currently, James Reed of St. Bonaventure leads the A-10 with 11 points (five goals, one assist). Also, Bonnie sophomore forward Emmett O’Connor sits atop the assist leaderboard with five.
The Bills then play two more games on the road against Fordham University and La Salle University. The Bills end their conference schedule with a three-game home stand, capping off their conference season with a much-anticipated match against No. 14 Charlotte. Some players to watch during the A-10 conference play are Simon Gomez of Duquesne, Luke Spencer and Sean Ryan of Xavier and Evan James and Charles Rodriguez of No. 14 Charlotte. Ryan, James and Rodriguez have all been recognized nationally for their efforts on the field this year.
The fans have not given up hope as SLU has the highest attendance for soccer games in the entire A-10 conference. So far this season, an average of 4,194 fans have come through the turnstiles at Hermann Stadium per game. The Bills start an average of four to five freshmen per game this year. These freshmen are not a major concern to McGinty.
“We have high expectations for our freshman coming in, but you never really know how they will acclimate to college life and soccer…They have done very well,” McGinty said.
Raymond Lee, freshman midfielder, leads the team with four goals this season, which is second in the A-10 with goals scored. Players have noted that these freshmen have progressed from game to game.
The Bills have had 70 shot attempts and 10 goals this season. Opponents, however, have had 145 shot attempts and 17 goals against the Bills. The Bills have recently had a lot of opportunities to score goals in recent games against Florida Gulf Coast, Missouri State and Drake. Consistency has been a point of emphasis for the team in the past few weeks.
“We have been trying to work on consistency, and we hope that will carry over into the conference stretch,” senior defender Blake Schneider said.
The team believes that they can have a good conference season. They have confidence that they can do well in the A-10 tournament and make it to the NCAA tournament.
“Our goal is to take on conference play game by game, get into the conference tournament and make it in the playoffs,” sophomore goalkeeper Nick Shackelford said.
These are high expectations for the team, especially without Alex Sweetin, who is out with a partially torn Achilles tendon. Sweetin, in 2010, tied for team-high honors with eight points (2G, 4A) and ranked second on the squad with four assists. McGinty admitted that it “makes a big difference” without Sweetin on the field.
McGinty, however, is encouraged by the progress his team has made in his second season coaching the team. He believes that he will have a better idea of his team and their soccer after this year’s conference season.
“A year ago, we could not beat Notre Dame or South Florida; we could not play the schedule we did. Doing this with five freshmen and with the injuries we had, I am very excited,” McGinty said.
The first opponent that the Bills face in conference is Rhode Island on the road on Oct. 7. Rhode Island (2-6) is the first of two road games to begin the Bills A-10 conference season. Rhode Island is led in scoring by Ross Morison, who scored six points, followed by Joey Haught who has scored four. Goalkeeper Peyton Warwick has 50 saves on the season and 13 goals against him, and he has a 1.46 goal-against average and .794 save average.
The Bills will have to take it one game at a time, possibly winning at least one game on the road. The Bills have will have a major conference road test these next two games.
