Saint Louis FC Drops Important Points At Soccer Park To Pittsburgh Over Weekend

The USL match between Saint Louis FC (7-10-5) and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (7-8-9) over the weekend came down to penalty kicks.

No, not in the extra-time, nail-biting way you might be thinking.

Pittsburgh scored the game-winning goal on a penalty kick after STLFC had a penalty kick attempt of its own saved in a 2-1 loss for the home squad over the weekend at World Wide Technology Soccer Park.

Saint Louis FC is back in action this Wednesday as they host the Tulsa Roughnecks at Toyota Stadium at World Wide Technology Soccer Park.

Seth Rudolph put the local club on the board just before halftime with his third goal in the last two games. Rudolph was the recipient of a beautiful backheel pass from Christian Volesky before he beat the Riverhounds goalkeeper to the near post.

Early in the second half, Pittsburgh evened the score on a free kick by Corey Hertzog that beat STLFC’s Adam Grinwis.

Fouls like the one that led to Hertzog’s free kick were the subject of post-match comments by STLFC coach Preki Radosavljevic, according to Joe Lyons of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“It’s really hard to swallow because when we come out of the locker room to start the second half, people don’t listen or pay attention,’’ STLFC coach Preki Radosavljevic said after his team saw its record fall to 7-10-5. “We keep telling them not to foul, but …

In the 65th minute, Pittsburgh goalkeeper Trey Mitchell guessed correctly and denied Milan Petosevic on a penalty kick attempt. The penalty was awarded after Mitchell took out STLFC’s Tony Walls on a scoring attempt. Petosevic went left with his attempt, but it was met by a diving Mitchell. Mitchell would leave the game with an injured shoulder.

The Riverhounds would get a penalty kick opportunity of their own in the 73rd minute. Hertzog would beat Grinwis with his shot right down the middle. Grinwis was also shown a yellow card on the play that led to the penalty.

With the win, Pittsburgh moved into tenth place in the USL East with 30 points. STLFC maintained its position in 12th place with 26 points.

Saturday’s announced attendance was 4,703.

Daniel Jackson left the match in the 32nd minute with a leg injury. An update on his injury was not available.

Octavio Guzman and A.J. Cochran were also missing for Sautrday’s lineup.

Loss Costly For Saint Louis FC

Saturday’s loss was a costly one for Saint Louis FC. With 10 games left in the USL season, STLFC sits in 12th place in the USL’s Eastern Conference. At 26 points, the local club is five points out of the 8th and final playoff spot.

However, Saint Louis FC has the remaining schedule working in its favor, at least enough to control its own destiny.  Only one team (Louisville City) has played fewer matches this season than their 22. Eight of their remaining matches come against teams either below them in the conference standings or also fighting for one of the remaining playoff spots. Half of the club’s remaining regular season matches also will be played in front of the St. Louligans in Fenton.

The Tulsa Roughnecks come to town this Wednesday for a match at Toyota Stadium. Tulsa has earned points in four of its last five matches,  including a 2-1 win on STLFC in Tulsa earlier this month.

Tickets for Wednesday’s match are available at SaintLouisFC.com or by calling 636-680-0997.

Pub 2 Park registration for Wednesday’s match is now open.

SLU & Mizzou Women Open Season With Wins

The Saint Louis Univiersity women’s soccer team opened their season over the weekend with a 3-0 win over Miami (Ohio) on Friday and  a 3-0 win over Vanderbilt on Sunday. Both wins came at Robert R. Hermann Stadium in the Saint Louis University campus.

In Friday’s game, sophomore Alyssa Sitzer opened the scoring just eight minutes into the contest. Evie Lavelle, another sophomore, would score minutes later and freshman Olivia Petit would add a third goal before the halfway mark.

Sophomore Olivia Silverman and senior Mary Niehaus split time in earning the shutout.

Against Vanderbilt, Petit scored twice in the first half for the Billikens and Lavelle added an insurance goal in the second. Mary Niehaus picked up the shutout for SLU.

The University of Missouri women’s soccer team also opened its season with two wins over the weekend. The Tigers beat Illinois 3-1 in Champaign on Friday and returned to Columbia for a 2-0 win over Iowa State on Sunday.

Watch highlights from Sunday’s Mizzou win over Iowa State below.

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