St. Louis - No. 22 Saint Louis overpowered spirited St. Bonaventure 4-2 tonight in a Atlantic Conference men's soccer match at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. Billiken senior forward Casey Spiess recorded the first two goal game of his career as SLU won its third straight game.
"Our energy was not good enough in the first half, but we picked it up noticeably in the second half and that got us the result," Billikens head coach Dan Donigan said. "Our plan was to keep attacking them and rotating players. After a while, that takes its toll, because it is difficult to keep trying to hold off Dado (Hamzagic) and Kyle (Patterson) all night long."
With the Billikens enjoying a wide territorial edge early in the match, the Bonnies struck on their first as freshman midfielder Samuel Maheu's 10-yard side volley found the back of the net in the 12th minute. After a St. Bona throw-in, Maheu pounced on a bouncing ball as the Bills failed to clear their penalty area and buried it. Senior midfielder Phil Amahazion picked up an assist on the play.
Saint Louis charged back and had a tremendous opportunity in the 19th minute on a 22-yard free kick from straight away. Sophomore defender Calum Angus' initial strike hit the wall, and freshman midfielder Tim Ream's rebound attempt sailed over the cross bar. SLU knotted the match in the 20th minute on senior forward Casey Spiess' 12-yard chip. After a centering pass from the right flank from sophomore Dado Hamzagic, who was in that position for the ailing Alex Matteson and Spiess worked a quick 1-2 at the top of the Bonnies' penalty area to put Spiess in on St. Bona keeper Ken Lish. Spiess coolly popped the ball over the charging Lish. It was Spiess' second career goal and first since his freshman season.
Spiess had a variety of chances to snap the tie. He shot into the side of the net from the left flank in the 22nd minute, hit the left post on a break-in in the 43rd minute and watched SBU's Lish juggle his 22-yard drive and fall backwards toward the goal line before cradling the ball in the 44th minute. Saint Louis survived some loose defensive play in the second half as Billiken defender Mo Benne cleared Bonnies forward Kevin Omokhua's shot off the SLU line in the 25th minute, junior midfielder Jon Lopez knocked a 15-yard shot into the right side of the net in the 28th minute and Omokhua was wide of the left post from 20 yards after a SLU giveaway in the 31st minute. Saint Louis supplied intense pressure in the final three minutes with Spiess' two chances and Grazier's header off Kyle Patterson's serve that went over the cross bar with 50 ticks left.
Spiess finally got his second goal in the 60th minute on a 10-yard re-direction with Matteson assisting from the right flank. But the lead was short-lived as St. Bona knotted it again less than a minute later on a counter attack as Maheu converted a break-in off Omokhua's perfect though ball. Saint Louis reclaimed the lead with a pair of goals just over three minutes apart. Hamzagic netted his first goal of the season in the 63rd minute on a goalmouth header after Patterson beat the Bonnies right back and sent a crisp cross in front of the goal. The Bills added some breathing room in the 66th minute as Patterson connected on a three-yard header after a free kick. From 40 yards to the right side, Angus' free kick found senior back Dan Guffey at the left post, and he headed the ball to the turf in front of SBU's Lish. Patterson muscled his way through the crowd and knocked in the header.
Saint Louis out-shot St. Bonaventure (0-9-1 overall, 0-1-1 A-10) 17-8 and had a 5-1 edge on corners. SLU freshman keeper Ross Kaufman did not make a save to record the win, while St. Bona's Lish made two stops.
Saint Louis (6-3-1, 2-0-0) continues its eight-game homestand by entertaining A-10 foe Fordham on Sun., Oct. 8, at 1 p.m.
