Kingston, R.I. - No. 9 (NSCAA) Saint Louis throttled Rhode Island 3-1 in Atlantic 10 Conference men's soccer action on Sunday at the URI Soccer Complex. The victory delivers the A-10 regular-season title to the Billikens and the No. 1 seed in next weekend's A-10 Championships, which results in a first round bye. Casey Spiess, Larry Geraghty and Dado Hamzagic all scored for the Billikens.
"Given this game was on the road in difficult conditions against a quality Rhode Island team, I couldn't be more proud of the way the team responded with the regular-season title on the line," Billiken coach Dan Donigan said. "We are peaking at the right time. Our attitude and mentality is right where it needs to be as we head into the postseason."
In a showdown that would determine the league's regular season champ and first-seed in next weekend's A-10 tourney, Saint Louis (12-3-2, 8-0-1 A-10) did not let golden opportunities slip away early. Just 14:21 into the match, Spiess put the Billikens on the board when he gathered a loose ball and buried it into the right corner for his fourth goal of the season.
URI (10-5-4, 7-2-0 A-10) responded with an aggressive offensive attack, but the Rams were unable to capitalize on several chances or convert on any of six corner kicks in the first frame. Geraghty shifted the momentum back to SLU when he struck for the eventual game winner at the 41:52 mark to stretch the Billiken lead to 2-0. The goal was his first of the season.
SLU survived a scare late in the first half when keeper Ross Kaufman left with 10:53 remaining after being kicked in the face in a scramble in the box. However, he was able to regroup at halftime and was back between the posts for the start of second-half action.
Hamzagic's tally came in the 57th minute and dug URI deep into a three-goal deficit. Spiess fed the breaking Hamzagic who buried the ball past URI keeper Chris Pennock for his third goal of the season. Rhode Island broke into the scoring column in the 76th minute on a Jeffrey Gonsalves penalty kick after a questionable foul call in the SLU penalty area, but it wasn't enough as the Billikens cruised to the 3-1 victory and the regular-season crown.
In all, the Rams out-shot the Billikens 14-9 and held a 9-5 edge in corner kicks. Kaufman posted three stops in the winning effort, while URI's Pennock stopped two shots.
The Billikens begin their quest for the A-10 Tournament title on Friday evening at Transamerica Field in Charlotte, N.C., against an opponent to be determined.
