(Courtesy Saint Louis Athletics)
Saint Louis junior Robert Kristo scored two goals and added three assists, and junior midfielder William Hidalgo recorded a hat trick Saturday as the Billikens defeated Jefferson College 9-1 in the spring exhibition opener at Hermann Stadium.
Junior forward Kingsley Bryce tallied twice for the Billikens. SLU freshman Luis Manta recorded a goal, and SLU benefited from a Jeffco own goal to account for the scoring.
Six of the Billikens’ goals came in the opening half. Bryce began the scoring when he buried a rebound off a Kristo chance that was cleared off the line. Just one minute later, Bryce scored again when he put home a pretty cross from junior defender Raymond Lee to make it 2-0.
Hidalgo’s goal came after a Kristo through ball. A sliding Hidalgo managed to get his foot on it and send it across the goal line to make it 3-0.
Kristo scored the Billikens’ fourth goal of the game on a blast from just inside the box off a Bryce pass. Several minutes later, he scored again from a feed from freshman forward Joe Saad to make it 5-0. After a Jeffco own goal, the teams went into halftime with the Billikens leading 6-0.
In the second half, Jeffco got on the board to make it 6-1, but SLU responded quickly as it won a penalty kick. Hidalgo converted to make the score 7-1.
Freshman forward Luis Manta scored with less than 10 minutes remaining. Saad sent a cross to fellow freshman Max Karcher, who headed it down. Manta tapped the ball across the line to make it 8-1 Saint Louis.
Hidalgo completed the scoring with his third goal of the contest. He out-raced the Jeffco defender after a pass from Kristo and tallied past the keeper to complete the hat trick.
The Billikens return to action next Saturday when they host Butler at Hermann Stadium in a 3 p.m. kickoff.
BILLIKENS SCORING SUMMARY
First Half
Kinglsey Bryce (Robert Kristo)
Kingsley Bryce (Raymond Lee)
William Hidalgo (Robert Kristo)
Robert Kristo (Kinglsey Bryce)
Robert Kristo (Joe Saad)
Own Goal
Second Half
William Hidalgo (PK)
Luis Manta (Max Karcher, Joe Saad)
William Hidalgo (Robert Kristo)
SLU starters: GK: Andre. D: Lee, Karcher, Graham, Heskamp. MF: Hidalgo, Kohring, Vizcaino. F: Saad, Kristo, Bryce.
