ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis sophomore Nick Maglasang scored with 57 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Billikens to a thrilling 1-0 win Saturday night in front of a Homecoming crowd of 5,266 Robert R. Hermann Stadium.
The Billikens move to 2-2-1 on the year and host Missouri State next Tuesday at Hermann Stadium in the Billiken Blue Out game. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. Drake falls to 3-5-0.
After an exciting sequence of back-and-forth action in the final minutes of the second overtime session, the Billikens ended it with 57 seconds left on the clock. SLU freshman Jon Roeckle started the play when he whipped a ball into the box from the left side. Junior Alex Johnston got his head on the ball and directed it to Maglasang, who buried a shot to the far post.
The attendance of 5,266 represented the sixth largest crowd in SLU history. The win also came on the night the Billikens' 1960 national championship team was honored in a pregame ceremony.
"I thought it was a great game," SLU head coach Mike McGinty said. "We competed the entire match and made plays all over the field. Although it was 0-0 going into the final minute it was an exciting game. Nick Maglasang had great composure on the game winner. It was a great team effort and I am proud of everyone."
Both teams had strong scoring chances in the match, with the Billikens out-shooting the Bulldogs 21-10. Roeckle set up the first scoring play of the night early on when he sent in a cross to Christian Briggs who headed it toward the upper netting, but Drake keeper Jordan Kadlec got a glove on it and the ball glanced off the crossbar.
SLU continued the pressure and on a corner kick a half-minute later, Jake Brown fired a loose ball toward the near post, but UD's Nick Foster was there to clear it off the line.
Drake almost struck late in the first half when Brian Grand collected a loose ball at the top of the 18 with Shackelford out of position. With an open net in front of him, Grand fired but the shot sailed high of the frame.
Moments later, Brown sent a shot in that was tipped high, and the two squads went into halftime scoreless. The Billikens owned a 9-1 advantage in shots in the first half.
In the second frame, Shackelford made a save on a shot from distance by Drake's Michael Thaden. With 16 minutes left in regulation, Adnan Gabeljic gained control of a ball and raced in but fired wide. In the final minutes of regulation, Michael Robson did nice work to split two Drake defenders before Roeckle had a shot blocked.
Before Maglasang's goal, Gabeljic had the best chance in overtime when he raced up the right side. His shot, however, was stopped by Kadlec to keep it scoreless.
The final five minutes of the second overtime generated strong scoring chances for both squads. Drake's Evan Harrison had two chances from close range, one of which was stopped by a diving Shackelford.
On the other end, Kadlec was equally impressive when he stopped a shot from Gabeljic at the near post. Maglasang ended it when he registered his second career goal.
