St. Louis - Eighteenth-ranked Saint Louis University blanked UAB 1-0 tonight before a crowd of 4,174 at Robert R. Hermann Stadium in a Conference USA men's soccer match. Billiken freshman Brad Davis netted the winner to support the shutout goalkeeping of John Politis.
The Billikens avenged two losses to the Blazers last year when UAB's long throws and set pieces proved troublesome."We battled out there tonight and won the head balls that we didn't win last year," said Billikens head coach Bob Warming. "We didn't match their intensity last year in those two games, but we were more than equal to the task tonight."
Neither team was able to generate much in a scoreless first half, but the Billikens had the best scoring opportunity when Jason Cole sent a shot over the cross bar in the 38th minute. A Soccer America Freshman All-America last fall, Cole got his first start at forward this season. Although he didn't score, Cole left his imprint on the match with some dangerous scoring opportunities and then he moved back into a defensive role in the latter stages of the second half.
"I was surprised, but excited to start up top," Cole said. "I spent time in practice this week working on my turns and hitting shots, because it was my first time at forward since high school."
The Billikens' second-leading scorer, Davis drove home the winner at 48:40 with a 10-yard drive to the left of UAB keeper David Clemente. "Nick Walls made a great run and laid it off for me," he said. "Their keeper challenged me, and I just wanted to make sure that I put it on goal."
Davis nearly made it a two-goal game less than two minutes later when his 25-yard rocket ricocheted off the cross bar. Clemente made another leaping stop on Davis in the 87th minute, but the ball got through his hands and trickled toward the goal line before being cleared by the UAB defense. Davis was just inches away from a hat trick.
"We didn't feel any pressure because we couldn't seem to get that second goal," Davis said. "A little frustration may have set in, but we gained confidence as the game went on."
Cole bid for the Bills' second goal with a header off David Beck's corner kick in the 58th minute, but hammered the ball off the cross bar. "I thought the header was in," Cole said. "I was disappointed, because a two-goal lead would have been big."
Warming expects to use Cole in a variety of roles as the season wears on. "Jason is a special player, and he was the width of the cross bar away from having a spectacular game," Warming said. "Joe Hammes and Tim Sartori are playing so well in the back, that they are freeing up Jason to go wherever we need him."
Saint Louis out-shot the Blazers 12-to-4, and Billikens keeper John Politis had to make only three saves to post the shutout. UAB's Clemente made four saves and along with stopping Davis was sharp on Nick Walls' break-in in the 75th minute.
Although Politis was largely untested throughout the match, he made a game-saving stop on UAB's Jermie Frankson in the 74th minute. With his back to the goal at the top of the Billiken penalty area, Frankson whirled and drove a shot to the far post. Politis made a diving save.
"John made an impossible save look easy," Warming said. "He did a tremendous job handling all of their long throws and took about four balls right off their heads."
After losing to the Blazers in the regular-season last year and losing the home field for the C-USA postseason tournament, this match was important as Billiken sweeper Tim Sartori noted. "This was pretty big, and it was good to get a big win in the conference," he said. "We thought going into this game that we needed to get a streak going and this game is just another match in that streak. We knew they were going to give us a full 90 minutes."
The Billikens are 5-2-1 overall and 2-0-0 in league play, while UAB is 4-3-1 and 1-1-1. Saint Louis travels to Rutgers' adidas Classic next weekend when they will face the host Scarlet Knights and fourth-ranked St. John's.
SAINT LOUIS 1, UAB 0
SLU 48:40 Brad Davis 10 yds from Nick Walls
Shots: SLU-12, UAB-4
Corners: SLU- 10, UAB-2
Saves: SLU-3 (Politis), UAB-4 (Clemente)
Fouls: SLU-22, UAB-25
Att: 4,174
