Sept. 10, 2010

Final Stats

Fenton, Mo. - In its home opener, the Saint Louis field hockey team was edged by Missouri State 1-0 Friday afternoon at the Anheuser-Busch Center.

MSU had the first good scoring chance two minutes into the contest, but Billiken keeper Alex LaBarge turned the shot away. The Bears tallied what would prove to be the only goal of the game in the ninth minute. After MSU earned a penalty corner, Catrina Schmidt scored on a tip after passes by Lori Sinclair and Casey Bayliss.

Billiken freshman Shelby Dittmar tested MSU goalie Steph Anderson with a low drive at the 14:32 mark but the game remained scoreless. Lauryn Smith had a shot in the 20th minute blocked by the MSU defense as the Bears held onto the one-goal margin. The Bears put eight shots towards the SLU net but LaBarge kept MSU off the scoreboard. The Billikens countered with three shots in the first half but were denied on each occasion. The Billikens had one more penalty corner than Missouri State did through the first 35 minutes.

In the second half, MSU directed three more shots on goal, but the SLU defense kept the deficit at just one. Nicole Kent's shot late was stopped by Anderson as the Bears held on for the win.

The Billikens are 0-5 on the season, while the Bears improve to 2-2. SLU returns to action at home Sunday, Sept. 12, at 2 p.m. against Big Ten power Northwestern.