ST. LOUIS - No. 11 Saint Louis and No. 5 Creighton played to a scoreless draw Saturday night in non-conference men's soccer action at Robert R. Hermann Stadium.
The Billikens, who have yet to drop a game, move to 4-0-5 on the season. Creighton goes to 7-1-1. It is the second straight scoreless draw for SLU and its third overall. All have come at Hermann Stadium against top-10 teams.
"I am happy with the way we played," SLU head coach Dan Donigan said. "I was happy with the way we created chances, their keeper just made some nice saves and we were a bit unlucky. As we look ahead, we are certainly already battle-tested, now it is about not having any letdowns going into conference play. We have to keep plugging. This team knows they are good, and our day will come."
"You look across the country, and good teams are losing games," Donigan continued. "We are not losing games. For me, that is an achievement. People may be unhappy with five ties right now, but they would be even more unhappy with four ties and one loss."
Each team had three shots in the first half with both keepers making two saves. Five minutes in, Brandon Barklage struck a ball from the top-left corner of the box, but CU keeper Brian Holt was there to make the save.
Creighton manufactured its first scoring chance of the night on a corner kick midway through the half. Kris Clark delivered the ball into to the box for Greg Jordan, but his header was intercepted by a leaping Pat Disbennett to keep the game scoreless.
Disbennett had to be sharp on an Andrei Gotsmanov shot with just under five minutes left in the first half. Gotsmanov picked up a loose ball near the top of the box and fired a 20-yard shot to the near post, where Disbennett dove to his right to get his gloves on the bouncing shot.
The Billikens came out firing in the second half and had a pair of golden chances in the first 15 minutes, including a drive by Tim Ream off a set piece that was arguably the best scoring chance of the night for either team. Off a corner kick, he lasered a one-timer off a Barklage serve. Holt was in the right place at the right time and managed to deflect the ball out of bounds. Later, Patterson served a ball into the box that was just long to a charging Barklage.
Creighton had possession in its territory for a large potion of the second half but was unable to create any legitimate scoring chances. Through regulation, Saint Louis was out-shooting Creighton 7-5 and each team had 10 corner kicks.
In the overtime sessions, Barklage mustered a shot with two minutes left in the first 10-minute OT, but Holt saved the ball on the left post. Disbennett was in good position to corral a Greg Jordan chance in the second overtime.
Both teams had eight shots overall, and SLU managed an 11-10 advantage in corner kicks. Holt had five saves for Creighton, while Disbennett stopped four shots.
Saint Louis begins Atlantic 10 Conference action next weekend when they it travels to La Salle for a Friday night matchup. The Bills then head to the Bronx to face Fordham Sunday afternoon.
