ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis sophomore midfielder Alex Sweetin scored in the 12th minute as the Billikens tied Evansville 1-1 Friday night in a men's soccer exhibition match at Robert R. Hermann Stadium.

The Billikens, who head to Louisville Tuesday for their second of three exhibition matchups, played all 26 of their available players in the match.

"We got everything accomplished that we wanted," first-year head coach Mike McGinty said. "We got everyone involved, so we got to play a bunch of different combinations. Everyone made an impression; each guy had moments they can build on. It was a good first day out. The most important thing for us right now is figuring out which combination of players play well with each other."

SLU opened the scoring at the 11:48 mark on a rifle off the foot of Sweetin. Stephen Bortolon starting the sequence by gaining possession in the Billikens' end. He then found Adnan Gabeljic who raced up the left flank. Gabeljic sent a perfect cross inside the box that bypassed the first Billiken attacker before Sweetin drove it into the back of the net, putting the Bills up 1-0.

Evansville, however, equalized at 16:59. Tom Irvin had the ball on the right side and sent a pass to the near post. It deflected off Aaron Henkle, and Philip Manga was there to poke it home to make it a 1-1 game.

That remained the score until the final whistle. The shots were even at 6-6, though the Purple Aces out-cornered the Billikens 4-0. Three keepers saw playing time for SLU and none was forced to make a save thanks to strong individual efforts on the Billiken defense. Most notably, James Dice interrupted an Evansville scoring chance in the first half, and Joda Holloway cleaned up an opportunity in the second half.

SLU and Louisville meet at 4 p.m. (CT) next Tuesday in Louisville. The Billikens return to Hermann Stadium to wrap up the exhibition season next Friday vs. SIU Edwardsville. Game time of that match is set for 7 p.m.