Men’s Soccer Finding Their Way

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Lennart Hein, junior midfielder for the SLU mens soccer team.

SLU Men’s Soccer posted a win and a tie over the past two weekends, beating Marquette on the road and drawing with Akron.

SLU traveled to Wisconsin on Saturday, Sept. 9, to face Marquette. The sole goal for the Billikens (and in the match) came in the 72nd minute when junior midfielder Lennart Hein took advantage of a penalty kick to propel the Billikens forward to the win.

This was Hein’s second goal of the season, and senior goalkeeper Sascha Otte tallied seven saves in his first shutout of the season. With 21 career shutouts, Otte is ranked near the top among active NCAA Division I goalkeepers in this stat.

SLU returned home to host Akron on Saturday, Sept. 16. The two teams played to a 0-0 draw.

Most of the highlights in this game were in the goal and on defense, but SLU consistently outshot Akron 15-11 in the match, including 5-2 in both overtimes. Otte saved three shots, with a wall of Billiken defenders stopping a shot in the closing seconds of the second overtime.

SLU had a number of great chances to score in the first overtime, including a corner kick from junior forward Jacob Krupp that bounced off the far post.

This game was more aggressive than most, with four yellow cards issued to Akron, two from a brief on-field skirmish in the 74th minute. Two yellow cards were issued to SLU, one also from that skirmish. SLU had an advantage in the second overtime, as Akron was issued a red card and was forced to play with one fewer player.

Despite the tie, head coach Mike McGinty was positive about the defense throughout the game, especially in both overtimes. “Both teams played really hard. When we went to OT against Syracuse, that was a hard lesson to learn–you’re not going to get a chance to come from behind. If that’s a lesson we learned in the first game of our season, I’m excited.”

SLU hosts Stanford on Saturday, Sept. 23 at Hermann Stadium for Homecoming and Family Weekend. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. for this homecoming tradition.