The St. Louis U. High soccer squad had another action-packed week with three games in the last seven days. Last Friday, the Jr. Bills took on the Glendale Falcons, who made a long three-hour trek from Springfield, Mo. for the game. Glendale, a traditionally successful program, gave SLUH a run for their money, constantly challenged the Jr. Bills for possession and limiting their scoring opportunities. However, the Jr. Bills edged out the Falcons 2-1 to extend their win streak to three. The following Tuesday, Gibault High School became the Jr. Bills’ next victim in a 9-0 blowout.

Against Glendale, the Jr. Bills were backed by a surprisingly large student section for a 4:30 soccer game on a Friday with a three-day weekend ahead. The kickoff was followed by a slight drizzle that continued on and off over the course of the contest. 

Both teams started with a lot of energy and the Jr. Bills quickly realized that the Falcons would not be an easy opponent as they did not want to leave for a three hour ride home empty handed. The Falcons were threatening in the first half, getting long balls deep into the backfield but the Jr. Bill’s defense was able to hold them off. On one play, goalkeeper Chris Lewis was clobbered in the box by an aggressive ball but stayed in. 

After a close and scoreless first half, the Jr. Bills were looking to make something happen in the second. Their hopes would be answered seven minutes into the second half as senior leader Lucas Hammond scored a wonderful goal, tucking the ball in the bottom corner after a give and go and shot fake.

Unfortunately, minutes later, the Falcons responded with a simple back post finish to tie the game. 

The Jr. Bills were out for revenge as they marched back down the field and earned a free kick. Before he took the shot, junior Grant Locker walked over to senior Luke Rosenberg and told him to follow his shot. Rosenberg did just that, cleaning up the rebound and tapping it into the net for his first goal this year to put the squad back in front, 2-1.

“It was a great feeling scoring my first goal for SLUH,” said Rosenberg. “In such a close and important game for us it was really special.” 

As a more defensive player, it wasn’t exactly what Rosenberg had in mind for his first goal but he was happy nonetheless. 

After the  goal, the Glendale team got very chippy, accumulating three yellow cards; one player even got two in a row for a red card and was sent off the field for talking back to the referee. The Jr. Bills stayed in control and coasted to the finish line. 

“It was a crucial win for us. Glendale is always a good test of our abilities so to come out on top ahead of the CBC tournament is a good feeling,” said Rosenberg. “We’re moving forward in a good direction as we look ahead.” 

Next on the horizon for the Bills was Gibault, a small, historically dominant school from Columbia, Ill. However, history wouldn’t make up the difference in SLUH and Gibault’s skill sets. After winning all of their games narrowly 2-1, the Jr. Bills looked to make a statement and assert their dominance. 

Freshman Henry Sanders quickly put the Bills on top two minutes into the game with his second goal of the season. SLUH kept the pressure on and senior captain Kevin Cooney made it 2-0 a few minutes later. It was obvious the Jr. Bills were the better side and they didn’t show any mercy. By halftime the Bills were up 7-0 meaning the second half would be shortened to 20 minutes. 

The final score was 9-0 and following Sanders and Cooney, senior Jack Hulett, junior Grant Locker, senior captain Tommy Reh, senior captain Sam Tieber, senior Joseph Olascoaga, and junior Keegan Kesterson (2) scored. 

“We had a good start to the season but we weren’t happy with only winning our games 2-1,” said Hammond. “With the Gibault game we had a clean sheet, that was our goal for the game. We found the back of the net and got on a roll. After that game I think we’ll be able to find the back of the net a lot more.”

SLUH faced off against the Webster Groves Statesmen last night at the Drury Plaza. The game will be covered on next week's edition of the Prep News.