St. Louis - Saint Louis handled Air Force 4-2 tonight in a non-conference men's soccer match before 1,667 fans at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. Billiken senior forward Jason Cole scored two goals and assisted on another as Saint Louis stretched its winning streak to eight.
"Considering that we played without Joe Hammes and Nick Walls tonight, we were pleased with this result," head coach Dan Donigan said. "At times we had four freshmen on the field, and yet we dominated play for long stretches. When Air Force challenged, we responded."
Freshman forward Cooper McKee scored his first career goal at 11:55 to put the Bills on top. In tight quarters, senior midfielder Jack Jewsbury slipped a through ball to McKee, who drilled a 10-yard shot inside the right post past Falcons keeper Mike Taylor.
Jewsbury stretched his goal-scoring streak to three games by finding the back of the net at 37:45. Junior back Kevin Wickart's serve into the Falcons' penalty area was knocked down by the Air Force defense, but Cole collected it and found Jewsbury alone at the right post. Jewsbury pounded it home from six yards.
Cole nearly made it a three-goal game in the 44th minute on a three-on-two situation, but his 10-yard blast sailed wide of the right post. The Bills out-shot the Falcons 11-3 in the first half and had a 3-0 edge on corners.
As Saint Louis lost its aggressiveness in the early stages of the second half, Air Force began to turn up the pressure. Falcons freshman Colin Eames had a glorious opportunity to cut into the lead in the 51st minute, but his shot hit the far post and rolled laterally back along the goal line to SLU keeper Martin Hutton, who smothered it.
The Falcons finally ended the Billikens' string of five straight shutouts and 536 consecutive scoreless minutes in the 70th minute. Midfielder Tino Diaz beat Hutton high to the right corner from 12 yards with Thomas Clark picking up the assist.
Cole answered the challenge with a pair of goals in just over five minutes. After freshman midfielder Andrew Moses sent a cross into the Falcons' penalty area, an Air Force defender knocked down Jewsbury's shot, but Cole raced in to knock it in at 74:23. Moses picked up another assist at 79:50 as Cole skied to send home a header. They were the first two assists of Moses' career.
The Falcons weren't done as Air Force forced a Billiken defensive error and struck on a quick counter attack at 83:37. Senior midfielder David Auston put home a pretty one touch from sophomore forward Marcus Sagastume from six yards. It was the first shot that Billiken back-up keeper Jeff Sackman saw after relieving Hutton and was the first goal yielded in Sackman's brief career.
Saint Louis out-shot the Air Force (5-5-1) 17-12 and had a 5-1 edge in corners. Taylor made six saves for Air Force, and the Falcons' defense cleared two balls off its own line. SLU's Hutton made four stops.
Hammes and Walls are both senior midfielders. Hammes missed the game for reaching the yellow card limit, while Walls was nursing an injury. The Billikens (8-2-1 overall) return to Conference USA action by hosting league co-leader Cincinnati on Sat., Oct. 12, at 7 p.m. at Hermann Stadium.
SAINT LOUIS 4, AIR FORCE 2
SLU 11:55 Cooper McKee 8 yds from Jack Jewsbury
SLU 37:45 Jewsbury 6 yds from Jason Cole
AFA 69:45 Tino Diaz 12 yds from Thomas Clark
SLU 74:23 Cole tap-in from Jewsbury, Andrew Moses
SLU 79:50 Cole header off ck from Moses
AFA 83:37 David Auston 6-yd one-touch from Marcus Sagastume
Shots: SLU - 17 , AFA - 12 Corners: SLU - 5, AFA - 1 Saves: SLU - 4 (Hutton-4, Sackman-0), AFA - 8 (Taylor-6, Team-2) Fouls: SLU - 22, AFA - 20 Att: 1,667
