While the majority of campus spent its time studying for midterms, the men’s soccer team spent some time on the road continuing their Atlantic 10 schedule with stops in Davidson, N.C., and Fairfax, Va. SLU, ranked
eighth with an 8-2-0 record, began their journey in Davidson against the 5-1-2 Wildcats on Oct. 10.

Freshman Sascha Otte completed his seventh shutout on the season, with four saves in the game that went into double overtime, yet finished scoreless.

Senior Raymond Lee led the Billikens with five shots on goal, while junior David Graydon attempted four shots on goal with neither player finding the back of the net. This tie moved the Billikens to 8-2-1 as they continued on to Virginia to play the George Mason Patriots, who entered the match against SLU with a record of 7-2-3.

The Billikens spent their day of recovery making the trip to Fairfax to play a game that ended up being well fought on both sides. Saint Louis found itself behind 2-0 early, with back-to-back goals by the Patriots in the 30th and 47th minutes. The Billikens regrouped over halftime and came back with a vengeance, scoring two goals in the beginning of the second half.

One of these goals came in the 59th minute, when senior Anthony Manning took advantage of a penalty kick opportunity to make the score 2-1, giving him his second penalty kick goal this season. SLU’s second goal came from the scoring duo of Robert Kristo and Marco Heskamp, when Heskamp connected with Kristo to tie the game.

The Billikens seemed to have turned the tide against the Patriots until the 69th minute, when Filip Pavisic was issued a red card, forcing SLU to play the rest of the game with only 10 men on the field. The Billiken defense would hold until the 88th minute, when Taylor Washington scored the winning goal for the Patriots. Billikens returned home with an 8-3-1 record to play two more games against A-10 opponents, with only a day of rest in between.

SLU took on Duquesne (6-3-2) this past Friday at Hermann Stadium. Although the Billikens found themselves with multiple scoring opportunities, the Dukes defenders were able to clear the ball before any damage could be done. This resulted in a scoreless first half.

The Billikens would get a break at 51:54 when Kingsley Bryce was fouled and Graydon took the free kick. With a beautifully curved kick into the box, Kristo was able to head the ball past the Dukes keeper. Graydon’s assist tied the team’s highest at six and would give Kristo his 10th goal of the season.

Otte also had a commendable performance with his eighth shutout of the season. The Billikens outshot Duquesne 14-4 and advanced to 9-3-1  after the 1-0 win. This victory gave SLU momentum for its Sunday home game against UMass (1-10-1).

The Billikens ended the weekend against UMass and began their onslaught early in the first half, scoring three goals in the first 20 minutes of the game. These goals came from Manning (1:57), assisted by Hidalgo; David (16:53), assisted by Manning; and Bryce (18:26), who scored without any assistance.

Manning’s goal came off of a corner kick that allowed for a header into the back of the net. Tyler David was there to make the play, slamming the ball into the net for his second goal of the season. Bryce then scored his third goal of the season after sneaking the ball into the goal to put the Billikens up 3-0 at the half.

The second half began much like the first, with the Billikens crushing the Minutemen on offense. Hidalgo delivered a perfect strike after Kristo sent the ball across the box for him, in the 62nd minute, to send the Billikens up 4-0.

SLU would finish their scoring rampage in the 70th minute, when Max Karcher scored his first career goal off of a pass from Bryce. The Billikens dominated in shots on goal, 21-7, and Otte only had to make one save to successfully complete his ninth shutout. A crucial game for the Billikens, now 10-3-1, will take place this Saturday in Dayton, Ohio, as they will face the 6-4-3 Flyers.

Bryce and Kristo also made national soccer news this week. Announced Monday, Bryce has been named a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award which is given annually to an athlete who exhibits excellence in community, classroom, character and competition. Bryce is a team captain and is also the president of SLU’s Student Athlete Advisory committee and has earned honors five times for the A-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, awarded to students who complete a 3.5 GPA that semester.

Kristo is tied for first in the nation among active players in career scoring. He has 88 total points, comprised of 37 goals and 14 assists in his career as of press time.