SLU vs. Memphis: What/Where to Watch
By Paul Lamb
Cicciarelli sounds like a delicious dish at Zia’s. For the Billikens, it’s the name of a Notre Dame transfer who netted a game winner in double OT vs. Tulsa last Friday, and earned A-10 co-player of the week. With a win under their belt, Cicciarelli and friends look forward to the home opener against Memphis, Friday night, at Hermann Stadium.
A year ago, Memphis rolled over an experienced SLU squad, winning 4-0, the largest deficit for the Bills in last year’s campaign. For a team that prided themselves on defense, it was a rude awakening to get trounced that badly.
But, that was then and this is now. Despite the loss of Anthony Manning, the defense showed strength against an explosive Tulsa attack, holding them goal-less through an entire game, and two overtime periods. Filip Pavisic, Marco Heskamp, and Tyler David held their line well, while Brickenmauer Otte played as well as expected.
That won’t be the worry against Memphis, a team struggling so far this season, having lost their first two regular season games while scoring a total of one goal. Even in preseason, Memphis tied two out of three games, against Lipscomb, and Jefferson College, whom the Bills beat 4-0.
Not that they’re to be overlooked, but this won’t be the Tigers team from a year ago. The question mark that’s yet to be answered, and can’t really be answered until we have a few games under our belt, is who’s the go-to scorer. Cicciarelli’s experience on an elite team like the Fighting Irish makes him the leading candidate, proven against Tulsa. One name I think we can see starting, or at least playing significant minutes when he returns next week: Nash Popovic, described by Coach Mike McGinty as “a proven goal scoere with a great nose for the goal and a high soccer IQ”. This week, Popovic was named to the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team for the Stevan Vilotic-Cele tournament, which will conclude September 7th.
When: 7:00 p.m.
Where: Hermann Stadium, St. Louis University
Where to watch: Streamed free on http://www.atlantic10.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27200&&db_oem_id=31600&mid=80412