PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Saint Louis' Brandon Barklage scored a goal with less than 15 minutes remaining in regulation to help the 17th-ranked Saint Louis Billikens post a 2-0 victory over Fordham in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Soccer Championship at Duquesne University's Rooney Field. Kyle Hayes tallied a late insurance marker for SLU.
With the win, the fourth-seeded Billikens (11-3-5) advance to face top-seeded Massachusetts Friday evening at 5 p.m. (CT) in a semifinal matchup.
"It's postseason now, so teams are going to throw everything they have at you," SLU head coach Dan Donigan said. "Give Fordham a heck of a lot of credit, we knew they were going to be tough to break and it took a great goal to break them. I thought we played well for 90 minutes, and at halftime I told the guys to continue doing what they were doing and try to clean things up in the final third, and obviously we did that."
Barklage's game winner, his seventh tally of the season, came after the two teams traded possessions in an evenly played second half. After Josh Aranda sent a ball to the right corner, Kyle Patterson served Barklage near the top of the penalty area. He settled it, turned and fired to the top-left corner of the net, just out of the reach of the sprawling Fordham keeper.
"Brandon has scored big-time goals for us since he has been here," Donigan said. "That is a big-time goal by a big-time player. He has worked incredibly hard, and that has paid dividends for the team."
The Bills' tight defense fought off several late runs by a surging Rams team, which finished their season 9-8-2. Hayes' goal, his fifth of the year, came off a Dado Hamzagic feed in the 89th minute.
Earlier in the second half, the Billikens nearly claimed the lead when Jimmy Holmes controlled a loose ball, but his drive deflected off the goal post. Fordham had its best chance to get on the scoreboard with 30 minutes remaining in regulation, but SLU keeper Pat Disbennett dove to his right to save an Abe Chehebar shot.
The two teams traded possessions in a scoreless opening half, with the Billikens maintaining the most consistent pressure with a 11-5 lead in shots and a 3-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Barklage had the first legitimate scoring chance for Saint Louis 16 minutes into the contest when he rifled a 20-yard screamer to the left post, but Fordham's Ryan Meara was there to make the stop.
With less than 10 minutes left in the opening half, the Billikens generated a flurry of chances. Hamzagic fired a 15-yarder from the right side that Meara corralled at the near post. Later, Patterson lifted a ball to Scott Wisniewski in the box. Wisniewski left it for Holmes, who fired a shot that deflected of Meara's gloves.
The Billikens outshot Fordham 18-13, which included a game-high seven shots from Hamzagic. Fordham held a 4-3 edge in corner kicks. Disbennett made three saves for his seventh shutout of the season.
The Billikens and UMass, which received a first-round bye in the tournament, met once earlier this season with the Minutemen claiming a 2-1 double-overtime victory in Amherst.
