ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis scored three unanswered second-half goals to post a 3-2 victory against the visiting Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos Wednesday night at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. Tim Ream, Kyle Hayes all scored for the Billikens, who move to 4-4-0.
"I give my guys credit for fighting back, this is a good come-from-behind win against what I feel is a solid UMKC team," Billikens head coach Dan Donigan said. "While I wasn't pleased with our overall play, we showed what we were a made of a little bit in the second half. A win like this can turn the table for us. The guys needed this kind of game as we head into Saturday's Clemson match and the conference schedule next weekend."
Trailing 2-0 in the second half, SLU would get one of those goals back to begin the comeback at 63:40. Stephen Bortolon worked to get the ball into the box, then was fouled attempting to dish to an open Bellomy, resulting in a SLU penalty kick. Ream buried the free chance to cut the SLU deficit to 2-1. It was Ream's first-career goal.
Less than 10 minutes later, Bellomy notched the equalizer. James Jaramillo had a shot from deep on the left side that was blocked, but the ball deflected into the box to Bellomy. With a defender marking him tightly, Bellomy got his right foot on the ball and guided it into the back of the net to make it a 2-1 game. It was Bellomy's second goal of the season and Jaramillo's second assist of the year.
The Billikens took the lead on a Kyle Hayes goal at the 77:07 mark. Ream initiated a set piece on a free kick, dishing it short left to Bortolon. He then served a perfect ball into the box that Hayes re-directed into the back netting for the 3-2 Billiken win. Hayes, who has missed extensive time this year due to injury, recorded his 12th career goal and the fourth game winner of his career.
Those three unanswered goals came after UMKC (2-5-1) took a 2-0 lead with a tally at 48:63. On a corner kick, Casey Charlton served a long, high ball to the back of the box. David Sarabia was there waiting for it and blooped a one-timer over the SLU defense and across the goal line for the two-goal lead.
SLU carried the play for the most of the first half, but it was the Kangaroos that found the back of the goal first. UMKC's Diego Rojas and Bryan Perez connected to get the ball into the box for Sean Butler, who fired a shot from 15 yards. He tucked the ball just underneath the crossbar and into the back of the net for a 1-0 Kangaroos lead.
The Billikens had several nice chances later in the first half. Bortolon sent a long pass to an open Jacob Brown chance after a nice feed from Ream. On the ensuing corner, Bortolon served a ball for Alex Sweetin, but his chance slid just wide of the near post.
Overall, SLU out-shot the Kangaroos 12-9 and held a 6-5 advantage in corner kicks. SLU goalie Mark Pais made two saves for the win, while Cooper notched four saves for the Kangaroos.
The Billikens are back at it Saturday, Oct. 3, when they face Clemson in a 7 p.m. matchup at Hermann Stadium. Prior to the game, SLU will honor the 1959 national championship team in recognition of the 50-year anniversary of their title. At halftime, all Billiken alumni, as well as the Billiken Half-Century Team, will be recognized on the Hermann Stadium pitch.
