Saint Louis Men's Soccer // Match Information
Match No. 23	Saint Louis (13-2-7) at Akron (13-4-3)
Date // Time	Saturday, Dec. 6 // Noon (CT) / 1 p.m. (ET)
Location	Akron, Ohio (FirstEnergy Stadium)
NCAA Championship	Interactive Bracket
Tickets	Purchase Now
Stream	ESPN+
Live Stats	NCAA.com
Series History	Akron leads 8-5-1

ABOUT THE MATCH
-- Saint Louis heads to Akron, Ohio, to face the Akron Zips in a quarterfinal matchup of the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. Game time at FirstEnergy Stadium in Akron is noon (CT) / 1 p.m.

WATCH PARTY INFORMATION
-- Fans are invited to Watch Parties at FanDuel Sports Network Live! Ballpark Village, and Humphrey's near the SLU campus. Fans are encouraged to reserve a table at Ballpark Village by clicking here.

-- SLU's Student Involvement Center is hosting a Watch Party for SLU students at Grand Dining Hall. No meal plan is needed to attend the Watch Party.

SO FAR IN THE NCAA MEN'S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
-- The Billikens have advanced through the NCAA Tournament in thrilling fashion, topping Kentucky and Indiana in the first and second rounds, respectively, then advancing past Bryant in PKs last weekend.

-- SLU, one of two non-seeded teams (Washington) remaining in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, hosted the first round against Kentucky. Freshman Jack DiMaria scored the equalizer in the 86th minute, then buried the golden goal in double overtime as the Billikens advanced with a 2-1 victory.

-- SLU then took on No. 6 overall seed Indiana in Bloomington in round two. An early goal by Tanner Anderson stood as the Billikens shut out the Hoosiers 1-0 to earn a trip to the third round.

-- The third-round match at No. 11 Bryant saw the Bills jump out to an early lead on a goal by Quinten Blair, only to have Bryant respond with two goals for a 2-1 halftime advantage. Blair got the Bills' equalizer on a penalty kick in the second half. After a 2-2 draw, the advancing team was decided by a penalty-kick shootout. SLU goalkeeper Jeremi Abonnel made two saves in the shootout to help send the Billikens to the quarterfinals.

COLLEGE CUP BERTH ON THE LINE
-- The advancing team from Saturday's matchup goes to the 2025 Men's College Cup (men's soccer's "Final Four"), Dec. 12 and 15, at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.

-- Saint Louis will be searching for its 17th College Cup appearance and the first since 1997, when Billiken head coach Kevin Kalish was a junior defender on the team.

-- The Billikens, who are making their NCAA-record 52nd NCAA Tournament appearance, have won 10 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, the most of any other program.

BILLIKENS ARE STREAKING
-- Saint Louis is unbeaten in its last 13 games, tied for the longest active streak in the NCAA. The Billikens' last loss was Sept. 23 at Akron.

-- Furman is also on a 13-match unbeaten streak.

-- SLU is 8-0-5 in its last 13 matches. 

ABOUT THE BILLIKENS
-- Saint Louis is making its NCAA-record 52nd NCAA Men's Soccer Championship appearance. 

-- Saint Louis is in the quarterfinals (Round of 8) for the second time under eighth-year head coach Kevin Kalish. The Billikens are looking for their first College Cup appearance since 1997, when Kalish was a player at SLU. 

-- The Bills were the A-10 regular season and tournament champions. They went 5-0-3 in the A-10 regular season. SLU captured the A-10 tournament title in thrilling fashion in PKs against Dayton at Hermann Stadium to earn the A-10's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

-- Freshman Theo Franca leads the Billikens with five goals, three of them game-winners. He scored the second-half equalizer against Dayton in the A-10 final that helped SLU capture the A-10 crown. 

-- Graduate Quinten Blair is second on the Bills with four goals, the first goals of his career. He tallied both scores in the Billikens' 2-2 draw at Bryant in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

-- Sophomore Andrew Heckenlaible (2G, 3A), junior Tanner Anderson (3G, 1A) and senior Abdoul Karim Pare (3G, 1A) all have seven points.

-- Senior Jeremi Abonnel, a first-team All-Conference selection and the A-10 Goalkeeper of the Year, has played every minute in goal and is tied for fifth in the country with 11 shutouts. Abonnel is 10th in the NCAA in goals against average (66) and 20th in save percentage (.800).

-- Drake Fournier, Abdoul Karim Pare, Quinten Blair and Carlos Leatherman all earned a spot on the A-10's second team All-Conference squad. The Billikens placed a league-high three players on the All-Rookie team – Jack DiMaria, Theo Franca and Nick Schramm.

-- SLU head coach Kevin Kalish, the A-10 Coach of the Year, is in his eighth season at Saint Louis (81-33-35) and 14th season overall (130-79-49). This is the fourth NCAA Tournament for Kalish as a head coach. In 2021, he led the Billikens to the NCAA quarterfinals.

QUICKLY ON THE ZIPS
-- Akron earned the No. 14 overall seed in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship and enters Saturday's match 13-4-3 overall.

-- The Zips had a first-round bye, then defeated Notre Dame 1-0 and Duke 2-0 on their home turf to advance to the quarterfinals.

-- Akron has yielded just 0.60 goals per game, which ranks fifth in the country. They are in the top 25 in the NCAA in goal differential, scoring 31 goals while allowing just 12.

-- Stefan Dobrijevic, the Big East Offensive Player of the Year, leads the Zips in scoring with 27 points (8G, 11A).

-- Remi Agunbiade (7G, 2A for 16 points) scored both goals in the Zips' 2-0 win against Duke in the NCAA second round. Jack Roman also has 16 points for Akron on five goals and six assists.

-- Big East Goalkeeper of the Year Mitch Budler has played every minute in goal. He leads the NCAA with 13 shutouts and sports a 0.60 goals against average, which ranks seventh nationally.

-- Head coach Jared Embick, a native of nearby Granite City, Ill., is in his 13th season at Akron. His first head coaching job was at Missouri Baptist from 2003-06. 

SERIES HISTORY
-- SLU leads 8-5-1 in a series that dates back to 1960, though Akron is 4-0-1 in the last five meetings. 

-- The squads met earlier this year in Akron, with the Zips coming away with a 3-0 victory. Akron opened the scoring with a goal on a penalty kick at the 33:11 mark. The Zips tacked on two more in the second half, scoring in the 62nd and 67th minute for the 3-0 final.

-- The last SLU win in the series came on Aug. 29, 2003, a 1-0 victory on a neutral field in Charlottesville, Va. 

-- The Billikens' last win against the Zips in Akron was in 1989, 1-0 on a game-winner by John Johnson.

CHECKING IN ON HISTORY
-- This is the 67th season Billiken men's soccer. SLU's all-time record is 853-284-139.

-- Saint Louis has won 10 national championships, an NCAA record. The Billikens' 10 national titles came in the first 15 seasons in their history. The Bills won the first NCAA crown in 1959 and won its 10th in 1973.

-- SLU has made 52 NCAA Tournament appearances, an NCAA record.