St. Louis - Fourth-ranked Saint Louis topped Binghamton 1-0 in a second round NCAA Tournament men's soccer match tonight before 2,562 fans at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. Billiken leading scorer Vedad Ibisevic scored in the 96th minute to push SLU to the third round.
Binghamton played great defense all game long." Ibisevic said. "I'm just thankful that we finally scored."
Billiken sophomore midfielder Cooper McKee found Ibisevic free at the top left of the Bearcats' penalty area. The Bills' freshman forward buried a 16-yard shot to the lower right corner spoiling a brilliant effort by BU keeper Stefan Gonet.
"It was a frustrating game, because they play such good defense," McKee said. Vedad is always kidding me that if I want points, I need to get him the ball. So, I was looking for him every time I got a touch."
"I breathed a huge sigh of relief," Billikens head coach Dan Donigan said. Binghamton is well-coached, extremely disciplined and their goalkeeper was incredible."
Saint Louis dominated the possession time and enjoyed a sizable territorial advantage as the Billikens out-shot the Bearcats 5-0. Billiken freshmen Vedad Ibisevic and John DiRaimondo had the best chances. Ibisevic's 10-yard header was easily handled by Gonet. DiRaimondo had the best chance in the 41st minute with an eight-yard drive that Gonet charged and blocked. On a 30-yard free kick, DiRaimondo sailed a drive just over the cross bar.
Saint Louis continued to press the attack in the second half and finished the half out-shooting the Bearcats 15-2. BU's Gonet made the save of the match in the 65th minute on Alex Matteson's 10-yard strike. Running on to John DiRaimondo's serve, Matteson sent a one-timer destined for the lower right corner that had the SLU crowd on its feet celebrating. But Gonet got a finger on the shot, deflected it off the post and smothered the rebound.
Billiken keeper Martin Hutton was seriously tested only once. In the 54th minute, Bearcats forward Stephen Bruce broke in on the left flank. Hutton came out and handled the 12-yard shot.
Gonet kept the heroics going early in the overtime. He dived to his left to stop SLU forward Will John's 18 shot headed for the post, and he denied Ibisevic 15-yards with another diving effort.
Binghamton finished the year 12-3-7 and had its 14-game unbeaten streak snapped. The Billikens out-shot the Bearcats 19-2 as Gonet made a career-high 10 saves. The Billikens also had a 3-1 edge on corner kicks.
Saint Louis (14-3-3) hosts a third-round game on Sun., Nov. 30, at 1 p.m. against Washington, which eliminated Portland 1-0 tonight.
#4 SAINT LOUIS 1, BINGHAMTON 0 (OT)
SLU 95:17 Vedad Ibisevic 16 yds from Cooper McKee
Shots: SLU - 19, BING -2 Corners: SLU - 3, BING - 1 Saves: SLU - 1 (Hutton), BING - 10 (Gonet) Fouls: SLU - 9, BING - 21 Att: 2,562
