Fairleigh Dickinson men’s soccer upset St. Louis in double OT, advace to sweet sixteen
ST. LOUIS, Mo — Senior Jack McVey’s header into the upper right corner of the goal almost three minutes into double overtime propelled the Fairleigh Dickinson men’s soccer team to a 2-1 NCAA Tournament Second Round victory over No. 12 Saint Louis, the No. 8 overall seed, at Robert Hermann Stadium on Sunday afternoon. With the victory, the Knights advance to the Sweet 16 and improve to 11-5-6 on the season, while the Billikens end their year 16-5-0.
The goal was set up by fellow classmate and countryman Antony Moore, who had a pair of assists on the day. After sophomore Nico Wright and a SLU defender fell to the ground about 20 yards in Billikens’ territory, Moore went down the right sideline and sent a cross into the box to McVey, who put it in from approximately 10 yards out for the game winner.
Before getting to double overtime, FDU had to fend off a determined SLU attack in the first extra period. The Knights blocked a shot in traffic in the 95th minute, and junior goalkeeper Jacob Lissek came out near the edge of the box to halt a Billikens’ breakaway for one of his two saves in the match.
“What a fantastic win for us today,” Head Coach Seth Roland said. “We rose to the occasion in front of over 2,000 fans partisan Billiken’s fans clad in royal blue t-shirts and battled with them over every inch of the field.”
Over the first 45 minutes of the match, FDU outshot SLU, 7-6, and forced SLU goalkeeper Nick Shackelford to make all five of his saves on the day during that stretch. Wright had a header denied off a perfect pass in the 19th minute. Moore was stopped on a beautiful save off a volley in the 29th minute, and one minute later, freshman Jan Aubert ripped a shot from approximately 25 yards out, which forced Shackelford to make a leaping save to his right. All three shots easily could have given the Burgundy and Blue the lead.
“We forced their goalkeeper to make three big time saves in the first half,” Roland said.
The Billikens had numerous opportunities to score in the first half, with the help of a 5-1 corner kick advantage, but the Knights put enough pressure on the SLU shots to force them off the mark.
To start the second half, the Billikens had a chance to score three minutes in, but Lissek got to the ground to stop a shot from William Hidalgo.
In the 56th minute, Moore sent a cross from the right corner to Aubert, who calmly found the back left side of the net to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.
Stepping its offensive pressure into a higher gear, SLU broke through in the 73rd minute on a header from Robbie Kristo that found the upper left corner of the goal to tie the game at one.
The Billikens outshot FDU in the second half, 4-1, and 12-9 for the match. SLU also held a 7-1 advantage in corner kicks.
“We didn’t lose faith when they tied us, and we just kept working and competing unitl another great Moota (Antony Moore) cross found Jack (McVey), who headed in the game winner in overtime and set off a big celebration. Everyone competed hard today, and special props go out to Karlis Putans and Tatenda Chimhanda for so confidently stepping in after halftime for our injured center backs Nicholas Walker and Jason Wells,” Roland said.
“It was a complete team effort, and I am so proud of the guys and am really thrilled for them. It was a dramatic and deserving victory.”
The Knights will face North Carolina, who advanced on a PK shootout (3-2) over UMBC after the two teams played to a scoreless draw after 110 minutes. Next Sunday’s kickoff at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, N.C. is scheduled for 5 p.m.
