Saturday night was déjà vu for the Billikens men’s soccer team. Just like the previous season, they found themselves playing a Creighton Bluejay team ranked No. 3 in the nation late in nonconference play. And just like last year, the Billikens came out on top, 1-0. Unlike last year, this win came in a more triumphant fashion, with a golden goal in overtime. The win in Omaha lifts the Billikens to a record of 6-1, for their fourth straight win. The Jays are the second top-five opponent to which Saint Louis has handed its first loss, the first being previous No. 5-ranked Louisville.
The men, who were ranked 15th at the time of the game, jumped up five spots to No. 10 in this week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll.
Senior forward Robert Kristo, back after sitting out against Evansville and not starting against the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) due to injury, lifted SLU with a golden goal in the fourth minute of overtime.
Senior midfielder Raymond Lee passed the ball to Kristo for the assist on the goal at the 93:54 mark, his third assist of the season.
Freshman goalkeeper Sascha Otte, who has played every minute of the season thus far, had a career high eight saves in the victory. It was the team’s fourth shutout ofthe season. Coincidentally, last year in the win over Creighton, former goalkeeper Nick Shackelford also posted his fourth shutout of the season over the Jays.
“Obviously [we are], very pleased after this one,” head coach Mike McGinty said. “Creighton is a great team, we knew it was going to be hard. We stuck together and fought hard all night long, and we were rewarded with the win.”
Kristo now leads the team in points, as well as goals scored with eight and four respectively. Kristo now has 74 points in his career at SLU, placing him 17th all time on the record list.
Next on the slate for SLU is Central Arkansas in the homecoming game on Sept. 27. The Billikens will take on the Bears at Hermann Stadium, looking for their 14th straight win at home.
This season, Central Arkansas, members of the Missouri Valley Conference, are 2-4 and on a four-game losing streak, as of press time. Most recently, they lost to UMKC 0-1, a team that SLU beat 2-0 on Sept. 16.
Following play against Central Arkansas, SLU will travel to Bloomington, Ind., to take on the Hoosiers in the last nonconference game of the year. The Hoosiers are 4-1-2 and currently ranked 17th in the NCAA coach’s poll.
SLU opens Atlantic 10 conference play at Hermann Stadium against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies on Oct. 5. SLU was picked as the preseason favorite to win the A-10 conference in a vote by the conference’s head coaches. The Billikens play eight conference games this season, four of them are home contests.
Kristo and Otte are the current A-10 Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week respectively. It is Otte’s second time with this honor this season, and the third Player of the Week award for Kristo in his career.
