The men’s soccer team’s road struggle continued as the Saint Louis Billikens lost 2-1 to Virginia Commonwealth University on Sunday, Oct. 6. The loss knocks them out of the top 25. This is the Billikens’ third road loss of the year. In those three matches, the Bills have scored three goals compared to nine goals in their four home matches this season. The Bills are now 6-3 on the season as they begin their Atlantic 10 conference schedule.
The Bills got on the board first against VCU. After a Kingsley Bryce shot was saved, David Graydon collected the rebound and knocked it into the goal to give the Bills a 1-0 lead in the 37th minute. The goal was Graydon’s second of the season. The Bills took the 1-0 lead into halftime, but would not be able to hold onto to that lead.
In the 74th minute, VCU’s Garrett Harvey headed the ball into the net to tie the match at 1-1. 11 minutes later, VCU’s Jose Manel scored the game-winning goal with less than five minute left in the match. That goal gave VCU a 2-1 advantage and the eventual victory.
“The reason why the loss to VCU hurt so bad was because we were coming off of a huge win over Creighton and we were feeling really good about ourselves and what we could accomplish on the weekend,” said goalkeeper Nick Shackelford.
Now, the Bills begin their A-10 conference schedule. The Bills in an A-10 preseason poll were predicted to win the conference. They will open the conference season with three home games against Fordham, George Washington and Dayton on Oct. 11, 13, and 19, respectively. Then the Bills will go on the road to take on St. Bonaventure and Duquesne on Oct. 25 and 27. After their final non-conference match against Louisville, the Bills will return home for their final conference match of the season against Saint Joseph’s on Nov. 3. The Bills will close the regular conference season on the road against Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
If the Bills finish in the top eight of their conference, then they will play in the A-10 conference championship tournament in Dayton, Ohio from Nov. 14-17. If they win the conference tournament, the Bills will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament
The Bills are very confident going into their conference schedule.
“I am expecting us to win the A-10. I am expecting us to shut out every team and I am expecting us to score over 20 goals in the next 9 games before we hit our conference tournament. There is not a single team that is better than us. The only team that can beat us is ourselves,” said Shackelford.
The Bills will open their conference season against the Fordham Rams on Friday, Oct. 11 at home in Hermann Stadium at 7:30 p.m. They will follow that up with a match against George Washington on Sunday.
