Aug. 19, 2003

Final Stats

St. Louis - Saint Louis sophomore midfielder Cooper McKee scored in the 82nd minute to lift the Billikens to a 1-1 tie with Southwest Missouri State tonight in a men's soccer exhibition match before 1,043 at Robert R. Hermann Stadium.

"This was a good test for us, because we had to make some adjustments while playing from behind," head coach Dan Donigan said. "We were better tonight than we were against Loyola, so we continue to improve which is what these games are for."

For the second consecutive preseason game, the Billikens yielded an early goal. SMS got on the board at 10:55 on senior forward Jamal Sutton's goal. After a Billiken giveaway in the midfield, Bears forward Ryan Crawford knocked a long ball that Sutton corralled, held off a SLU defender and buried a 16-yard drive to the upper left corner.

The Billikens' best opportunity in the first half came on Kyle Hopson's 15-yard shot that SMS keeper Matt Pickens turned away with a diving stop. Freshman forward Vedad Ibisevic put Hopson behind the Bears' defense with a perfect through ball.

Billiken keeper Martin Hutton kept the deficit at a single tally with a sparkling save on Bears midfielder Doug Lascody in the 30th minute. Hutton leaped to deflect Lascody's shot ticketed for the upper netting from 15 yards.

Five minutes after Ibisevic had two good chances within a two-minute span of the second half, McKee came to the rescue. McKee broke in at the right post on a feed from freshman David Peplinski and buried a five-yard shot past Pickens.

McKee almost got the game winner in the 88th minute when he drilled a short shot off the right post off Ibisevic's serve. SMS nearly won it with five seconds remaining on a four-on-one opportunity, but Bears midfielder Kai Harris shot over the cross bar when SLU keeper Jeff Sackman came out to challenge the shot.

The shots were even at 10 apiece, but the Billikens held a 7-1 edge in corner kicks. Billikens starting keeper Martin Hutton made two saves, while Sackman made one stop. Pickens made a pair of saves for the Bears.

The Billikens host Notre Dame in their final exhibition match on Sat., Aug. 23, at 7 p.m.

SAINT LOUIS 1, SMS 1 
 SMS  10:55  Jamal Sutton 16 yds from Ryan Crawford
 SLU  81:03  Cooper McKee 5 yds from David Peplinski

 Shots: SLU - 10, SMS - 10
 Corners: SLU - 7, SMS - 1
 Saves: SLU -3 (Hutton-,2 Sackman-1), SMS- 2 (Pickens-2)
 Fouls: SLU - 11, SMS - 16
 Att:  1,043