SLU Soccer Upsets #5 Louisville

Last year, Alex Sweetin and Saint Louis caught lightning in a bottle, scoring an early goal, and then using steel-like defense to hold off #3 Creighton.

“Lightning in a bottle.” More possible on Tuesday than could be imagined, as kick off was pushed back an hour and a half due to short, but intense storms that swept across the Saint Louis area. In terms of soccer, the Billikens were looking to catch lightning in a bottle against another top 5 opponent, just as they accomplished last year.

Just as Sweetin did a year ago, Tyler David was able to score an early goal that became the eventual game winner, and also his first career goal, against #5 Louisville.

A win is a win, something I’ve always stood by. But as the road continues, the quality of play needs to improve to make these wins a more regular thing.

After the 13’ goal, the real story was playing 77 more minutes of defense. Just like Saturday’s embarrassing road loss to Memphis left a lot to be desired defensively, so did the defense on Tuesday. Not a “poor” defensive effort, but a “just ok” defensive effort. Luckily, the Cardinals couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn, and were only able to put 2 of their 11 shots on goal. “Brickenmauer” Otte was there to fend away both of those shots on target.

Whatever “faults” come from this match don’t lay completely on the defense, especially when the offense has only 4 shots the whole game, and has 5 less corner kicks than the opponent. Weather was a factor, as the wet ground made it harder for Billiken midfielders to lead the forwards with passes as they usually do.

It’s hard to respect criticism like this when a team beats the #5 team in the nation. However, it wasn’t a superhuman effort from the Billikens to win. It wasn’t even a great effort, in terms of quality of play. Louisville had their worst game of the season, and caught some tough breaks in the second half. That’s the facts.

But that’s not to say there weren’t any positives, because they were plentiful as well. The defense did fend off a strong attack from Louisville. They gave up 11 shots, but only allowed 2 to reach the framework of the net. Offensively, they found the back of the net. Granted, it was once, very early in the match. And they only managed to shoot 3 more times after that. However, one was all they needed. No need to catch lightning in a bottle if you only need one bolt.

“I was very pleased with our effort,” said Coach McGinty after the match. The words “our effort” could be replaced with “getting to play a home match”. The Billikens are 4-1 this year (including exhibitions) at home, and 0-2 on the road. Luckily, SLU has two more home matches, the next on Saturday the 13^th against Evansville, before they head back on the road against current #2 Creighton, who looks to avenge the aforementioned loss last year. Coach McGinty and the Billikens need to clear some space in that bottle for another lightning bolt on Saturday.