(Courtesy Saint Louis Athletics)
Saint Louis senior forward Robert Kristo tied a school record by scoring 14 seconds into the match, but No. 12 Indiana responded with three first-half goals to defeat the third-ranked Billikens 3-1 Wednesday night in Bloomington.
It was just the second loss of the season for the Billikens (7-2), who saw their five-match winning streak come to an end. Indiana improves to 6-1-3.
SLU Starters – GK: Sascha Otte; D: Tyler David, Max Karcher, Anthony Manning; MF: Marco Heskamp, Patrick Sarr, Raymond Lee, David Graydon, Francisco Vizcaino; F: Kingsley Bryce,Robert Kristo.
SLU Subs – Filip Pavisic (Sarr), first half; William Hidalgo (Vizcaino), second half; Julian Gieseke(Karcher), second half.
SLU Goals – Robert Kristo (Francisco Vizcaino), 00:14.
Robert Kristo scored just after the opening kick. He received a pass from Francisco Vizcaino and chipped one over the Indiana keeper from roughly 35 yards at the 14 second mark. That matches the fastest goal scored by a Billiken to start a game. Matt McKeon also scored 14 seconds into a match in 1994 against UALR.
However, the Billikens were unable to maintain the momentum. Indiana scored three goals in the first half (8th, 23rd and 39th minutes) to take a 3-1 lead into the break. SLU had several chances in the second half but were unable to pull any closer.
It was the final nonconference tilt for the BIllikens. Saint Louis returns to action Sunday when it hosts St. Bonaventure at Hermann Stadium to open Atlantic 10 Conference play. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.
