Nov. 4, 2007
Box Score
ST. LOUIS - Sophomore forward Jimmy Holmes (St. Louis, Mo./Priory) tallied his first-career game winner as No. 13 Saint Louis marched to a 5-1 victory over the Temple Owls on Sunday in Atlantic 10 Conference men's soccer action at Hermann Stadium.
With the victory, SLU extends its winning streak to five and moves to 11-2-3 overall and 7-1-0 in the A-10. Temple slips to 4-10-2 and 0-6-1 in the league. The Billikens occupy the top spot in the league with one game remaining, while the majority of the conference will play two games next weekend.
"Just as I was on Friday, I was happy that we continued to play competitive after building an early lead," Billiken head coach Dan Donigan said. "We played intelligently, and we kept the intensity level up throughout the game, which is sometimes hard to do when you rotate players in and out."
Junior midfielder Kyle Patterson, who on Friday netted three goals against Saint Joseph's, opened the scoring at the 7:04 mark off a corner kick. Junior midfielder Brandon Barklage sent the ball into the penalty area from the left corner, and Patterson managed to get a head on the curling ball and deflect it into the back netting. It was Patterson's 10th goal of the season, and Barklage earned his third assist of the year on the scoring play.
At the 23:41 mark of the first half, Holmes tallied what would eventually become the game winner. After taking a feed from sophomore forward Scott Wisniewski on the right side, Holmes raced into the box and let go a drive that Temple keeper Trevor Lyman managed to get his gloves on. However, the momentum off the shot carried the ball over the goal line for what was Holmes' fifth goal in as many games.
The Billikens were the beneficiary of a Temple own goal in the 47th minute. The play started with a long run up the right flank by Holmes. He sent a ball into the box, and from close range Temple defender James Suevo inadvertently redirected the ball into the back of net to give the Bills a 3-0 lead.
Freshman midfielder Josh Aranda serve in the 52nd minute. From outside the penalty area on the right side, Aranda sent a ball to a marked Bellomy near the far post. Charging, Bellomy left his feet and headed the ball past a diving Lyman. It was Bellomy's fourth goal of the season, and Aranda's second assist.
Mike Minai got the Owls on the scoreboard with a goal at the 63:06 mark. J.T. Noone sent in a shot from the left flank that was stopped by starting keeper Pat Disbennett. However, the rebound found an unmarked Minai who founed the back of the open net to trim the SLU lead to 4-1.
A Wisniewski goal with 12 minutes remaining in the contest re-established the four goal advantage. Tim Ream took possession of the ball on the right flank, and after a long run sent the ball into the penalty area. Wisniewski deflected the serve and Lyman saved it. But Wisnewski maintained his position and was able to put the rebound into the back of the net. It was his sixth goal of the season, which is second on the team.
Overall, the Billikens out-shot Temple 17-4 and managed a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks. Disbennett earned the start in goal, making one save on the Temple scoring play. Ross Kaufman came on for the final 20 minutes but did not face a shot.
Saint Louis concludes its regular season next Saturday night in a showdown against A-10 rival Charlotte. The game, which could very well determine the league's regular-season champion, will get underway at 7 p.m. at Hermann Stadium.
1972 National Championship Team Ring Ceremony: At halftime of today's match, members of the 1972 men's soccer national championship team were presented with championship rings. The 1972 squad, coached by the legendary Harry Keough, captured the Billikens' ninth national championship with a 4-2 victory over UCLA at the Orange Bowl. The team featured two Hermann Trophy candidates in Mike Seerey and Dan Counce. To view a slideshow of today's ceremony, Click here.
