ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis junior forward Jimmy Holmes scored in the second half to break a tie and vault the 16th-ranked Billikens to a 4-2 win against Duquesne Sunday afternoon in Atlantic 10 Conference soccer action at Hermann Stadium.
SLU also received goals from junior Kyle Hayes and seniors Dado Hamzagic (1G, 2A) and Brandon Barklage (1G, 2A), capping a successful Senior Day for SLU's six-member senior class. In addition, it was the 100th career victory for Dan Donigan, whose eight-year SLU coaching mark is now 100-32-23.
With the win, the Billikens move to 9-2-5 overall and 5-2-0 in the A-10. Duquesne dips to 5-8-4 and 2-4-1 in the league.
"Our guys know that was not our best effort today," Donigan said. "The only positive that came out of today is that we did get a win. It was a tough game. Duquesne was banged up after a tough game on Friday, so I give credit to them because they continued to battle throughout. But my guys know this was not a game to be proud of. We now have to regroup and get ready for this last weekend of the regular season.
"It's an honor to have been able to be a part of 100 wins at Saint Louis University," Donigan continued. "I would like to thank all my former players, because they are the one's who win games. I have been fortunate to have been surrounded by so many great players, assistant coaches and administrators who have contributed to the success of Saint Louis soccer."
After a back-and-forth first half that resulted in a 2-2 game at the break, the Billikens came out and tallied the winner at the 55:49 mark. Just after Duquesne struck one off the post, Barklage controlled the ball in his own end and sent a long pass to the other side of the field for Holmes. After breaking free from his defender, Holmes took advantage of the counter attack by burying his second goal of the year.
In the final 10 minutes, the Billikens added an insurance tally to give them a two-goal cushion. Hamzagic curled a 15-yard free kick off the crossbar, and Hayes was there to clean up the rebound. It was Hayes' third goal of the season.
Duquesne jumped on the scoreboard first in a wild first half with a goal by Greg Annan in the fifth minute. Matthew Groves started the scoring play when he brought the ball into the box. He briefly lost it while trying to shake a defender, and Annan slid in and struck the ball past SLU keeper Pat Disbennett to put the Dukes up 1-0 early.
SLU answered in the 20th minute when Barklage found the back of the net for the third straight game. Hamzagic dropped the ball off for Barklage, who hammered it inside the far post for the equalizer.
The back and forth action continued when the Dukes' Stefan Lundberg worked to put Duquesne on top 2-1 with just under 10 minutes to go. He controlled the ball in his own territory, and raced the length of the rest of the field and beat Disbennett to the right side.
Just three minutes later, Dado Hamzagic tallied to knot the game 2-2. Barklage sent a ball to near the top of the box for Keegan Smith. Smith then threaded a ball for Hamzagic, who buried it to the far post. It was Hamzagic's first goal of the 2008 season.
Overall, SLU out-shot 17-10 and held an 11-1 advantage in corner kicks. Disbennett made four saves for SLU, while Torres made two stops for the Dukes.
The Billikens hit the road next weekend for two matches that will go a long way determining their spot in the final A-10 standings. They face UMass at 1:30 p.m. (CT) Friday before battling Rhode Island at noon Sunday.
