Milwaukee - Eighteenth-ranked Saint Louis University shut out Marquette 1-0 in a Conference USA men's soccer match tonight at Valley Fields. Freshman midfielder Brad Davis scored on a header for the game winner, while junior keeper John Politis successfully defended a Golden Eagles penalty kick to preserve the shutout.
"We won this match with team defense and some stellar work from Joe Hammes in the back," Billikens head coach Bob Warming said. "It's truly unfortunate that Marquette will not make the Conference USA Tournament, because they'll be one of two good teams in this league that won't qualify."
Politis kept the Golden Eagles from taking command on a PK by MU freshman defender Tony Walby. Politis had slid into Walby from behind in a chase for a loose ball in the Billiken penalty area. Walby chose the lower right corner, but Politis dived and deflected the ball around the post.
Davis got the winner at 85:35 off a chip from Jack Jewsbury. Midfielder Marty Tappel broke away from the Golden Eagles' defenders down the left side and found Jewsbury, who looped a pass to Davis at the far post. Eagles keeper Adam Ubert was helpless on the goal.
"Marty really was responsible for the goal," Warming said. "He accelerated through the midfield past everyone and fed Jackie a perfect ball. We moved Marty back into the midfield tonight, and his time at sweeper helped him tremendously. He is seeing everything all over the field and putting 40-yard balls right on our players' feet."
Marquette out-shot the Billikens 8-5, but Saint Louis had an 8-2 edge in corner kicks. Politis made five saves for the Bills, while Ubert made one stop for the Eagles.
The Billikens are 9-3-2 overall, 4-1-1 in league play and moved closer to the regular-season C-USA title, while Marquette fell to 9-6-2 and 1-5-0. Saint Louis moved percentage points ahead of Memphis into first place with the win. The Billikens travel to Memphis on Sat., Oct. 28, for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
SAINT LOUIS 1 MARQUETTE 0
SLU 85:35 Brad Davis 5-yd header from Jack Jewsbury and Marty Tappel
Shots: SLU-5, MU-8 Corners: SLU-8, MU-2 Saves: SLU-5 (Politis), Marquette-1 (Ubert) Fouls: SLU-20, MU-15 Att: 466
