KINGSTON, R.I. - Saint Louis received a pair of goals from seniors Dado Hamzagic and Kyle Patterson for a 5-0 victory over Rhode Island in a crucial Atlantic 10 Conference men's soccer matchup Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Billikens (10-3-5, 6-3-0 A-1) secured a spot in next week's A-10 Championship in Pittsburgh, Pa., as the No. 4 seed. They will face fifth-seeded Fordham in the late game Thursday night. Rhode Island (8-7-3, 4-3-2 A-10) also secured a spot in the A-10 Championship as the No. 6 seed.
"We were focused and determined right from the opening whistle," Billiken head coach Dan Donigan said. "We knew it was going to be tough coming out of halftime with a 2-0 lead because Rhode Island wasn't going to lay down. But we continued to plug and got a key early goal in the second half. I'm proud of the way we bounced back, and we now look forward to next week's A-10 Tournament in Pittsburgh."
The Billikens jumped out of the gates quickly. Hamzagic put SLU on the board in the 10th minute when he struck a free kick from 20 yards out to the near post. Later in the half, Brandon Barklage left a ball for Kyle Hayes, who buried it past Rhode Island keeper Peyton Warwick.
SLU took a 2-0 lead into halftime, but were being outshot 6-5 by a resilient Rhody squad. Disbennett kept the Rams off the scoreboard in the first session with two saves.
The Bills came out in the second half and registered a key goal just 21 seconds into the frame. Jimmy Holmes was pulled down in the box, resulting in SLU's first penalty kick of the season. Patterson connected on the chance, his 11th goal of the season, to put the Billikens on top 3-0.
Hamzagic tallied his second goal of the game off another re-start in the 54th minute. This one, a blast from 30 yards, was his third goal of the season.
In the 66th minute, Patterson completed the scoring outburst when he buried a Barklage service into the back of the net for the eventual 5-0 victory. Calum Angus started the scoring play when he sent a re-start ball to Barklage down the left side. It was Patterson's team-leading 12th goal of the season, and Barklage's team-best 10th assist.
Overall, SLU outshot the Rams 11-8, while each team generated three corner kicks. Disbennett, who played 68-plus minutes, finished with two saves. Backup keeper Ross Kaufman registered a pair of saves in 21 minutes of action.
