Saint Louis freshman CJ Coppola scored the only goal of the match in the fifth minute as No. 21 and top-seeded Saint Louis defeated eight seed Massachusetts 1-0 Friday in a quarterfinal round matchup of the Atlantic 10 Conference Men’s Soccer Championship.
The Billikens (11-4-1) have now won six in a row. They will learn their semifinal opponent tomorrow after the quarterfinal round when the teams will be reseeded. It is known, however, that the semifinal match will be played Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. at Hermann Stadium. UMass’ season ends with a 7-4-7 record.
Coppola’s game-winner, his fifth goal of the year, came off an assist from John Klein. After receiving a pass from Lane Warrington, Klein lofted a ball into the box that Coppola headed home for the game’s only score. It was Klein’s fifth assist of the season, which adds to his team-leading point total of 19 points (7G, 5A). Additionally, it was Klein’s 27th career assist, which is tied for ninth all-time in school history.
The game was played in a strong wind, which favored SLU in the first half. UMass had the wind in the second half and the Billikens fought off several chances to keep a clean sheet. Carlos Tofern made four saves for his fourth shutout of the season.
