St. Louis - Top-seeded Saint Louis topped Memphis 3-2 tonight in a Conference USA men's tournament semifinal game before 985 fans at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. Sophomore forward Nick Walls scored a goal and assisted on another as the Billikens advanced to the championship match against UAB on Sunday at 2 p.m.
"We had great jump tonight, looked alive and alert," Billikens head coach Bob Warming said. "Our guys seem to be enjoying the excitement of playing at this time of the year. It's a great time to be attacking this well, too."
Saint Louis came out of the gate quickly as Walls had a flurry of opportunities. Walls whiffed on an open net in the sixth minute and had a break-in smothered by Tigers keeper Clark Talley in the 7th minute. Walls put the Bills on the board at 8:20 with an innocent looking 12-yard header that floated over Talley.
The Billikens had two more golden opportunities to build on that lead until Memphis tied it. Senior midfielder Brian Hadican ripped a drive off the goal post, and Walls was high with the rebound in the 9th minute. Freshman Brad Davis found Billiken leading scorer Jack Jewsbury unmarked on the far side in the 13th minute, but Talley anticipated Jewsbury's eight-yard header and was in perfect position. The Tigers knotted the game on Memphis leading scorer Sean Fraser's 16th goal of the year at 18:46. Fellow striker Tommy White sent a long ball that Fraser corralled. He split the SLU defense and slipped a shot past Billiken keeper John Politis from 10 yards with Politis diving at Fraser's feet.
Davis provided a 2-1 halftime lead at 42:12 with a routine 22-yard shot to the near post that Talley misjudged and allowed to get underneath him. Senior midfielder Vedad Alagic picked up an assist. The Bills out-shot the Tigers 10-3 for the half.
"Talley's misplay of Brad's goal was kind of shocking," Warming said. "He's a big-time player, and he usually stops that. When you consider the other saves that he made throughout the match, it was surprising."
Saint Louis again came out of the halftime flying. After Talley again anticipated a Jewsbury header in the 49th minute, Jewsbury cleaned up a Walls rebound and buried a six-yard shot into the middle of the net at 51:19. SLU midfielder Mike Hill nearly put the game away in the 57th minute with a 35-yard laser that Talley got a hand on and then dived on the ball as it rolled along the goal line. Davis hit a sailing 24-yard drive that carried over the cross bar in the 67th minute.
Memphis defender Chris Schmidt made it interesting when he narrowed the margin to 3-2 at 69:49. Schmidt got a foot on Michael Shipman's serve off a free kick and sent a shot rolling along the goal line to the right post.
The Billikens continued to get through the Tigers and had two more chances to ice the match. Talley took Davis' 12-yard blast off the chest and it ricocheted off the cross bar. Alagic's 18-yard side volley off a Walls cross also went over the bar.
Walls matched his season high with seven shots. "Nick is full of confidence right now as is Jackie," Warming said. "This is really his first full season, because he battled injuries and illness last year. He's bigger, stronger and faster than a year ago and looks to be far more dangerous more often.
Although Politis had to make only three saves, his biggest came in the 80th minute on White's 18-yard blast. The Billikens out-shot the Tigers 19-8 with Talley making six saves to keep the match from getting out of hand.
The Billikens are 12-3-2, while Memphis finishes at 14-6-0. In the first match, second-seeded UAB dispatched No. 6 seed Louisville 2-0 to advance to the title match.
"UAB is a wonderful team, and we're looking forward to it," Warming said. "In this day and age of college soccer, it's unusual that the top two teams in the league meet in the title match. I hope people come out to see it."
SAINT LOUIS - 3, MEMPHIS - 2
SLU 8:20 Nick Walls 12-yd header from Joe Hammes
MEM 18:46 Sean Fraser 10-yd break-in from Tommy White
SLU 42:12 Brad Davis 20-yds from Vedad Alagic
SLU 51:19 Jack Jewsbury rebound from Walls
MEM 69:49 Chris Schmidt 5 yds off free kick
Shots: SLU-19, MEM-8 Corners: SLU-4, MEM0-5 Saves: SLU-3 (Politis), MEM-6 (Talley) Fouls: SLU-13, MEM-26 Att: 985
