最新杏吧原创

The 最新杏吧原创 City SC coaching search is close to the end, and possibly done.

Swedish newspaper Sportbladet and reported that Olof Mellberg, the coach of Swedish club Brommapojkarna, had accepted the job and that an announcement will be coming in a couple days. A source confirmed those reports to the Post-Dispatch, though another source said the decision hadn’t been finalized but would be made in the next few days. Two other candidates for the position had been identified in recent days.

City SC has been without a permanent coach since Bradley Carnell was fired on July 1. John Hackworth, the club鈥檚 technical director, has been serving as interim coach and finished out the season, which ended with City SC not making the playoffs in its second season. The offseason for Major League Soccer is getting closer, and in early December the league鈥檚 trade window and free-agent market open, so the time to have a new coach has arrived.

Mellberg looks like a good fit for a couple reasons. Throughout his career he鈥檚 been successful with teams with smaller payrolls, which would make him at home with City SC, which has been toward the bottom of the MLS salary scale in its two seasons. His clubs have used the high-pressing style that is the preferred style of City SC sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel.

Mellberg would add to the team鈥檚 Nordic flavor. The club has four current players from Nordic nations: Joakim Nilsson and Rasmus Alm from Sweden, Nokkvi Thorisson from Iceland and Tomas Totland from Norway. At the start of last season, the roster also had two Danes, Isak Jensen and Nikolas Dyhr.

Mellberg, 47, was a defender who played for the Swedish national team in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and played for Aston Villa in England and Juventus in Italy among other clubs. He started his coaching career with Brommapojkarna, familiarly called BP, in the Swedish third division, and in two years had it in the top flight. He moved to a Danish club but after two months returned to Sweden to coach Helsingborgs.

He was a candidate for the Swedish national team in 2023 but instead returned to BP. Mellberg already has said he won鈥檛 be returning to BP after his contract runs out on Dec. 1. The club finished in 10th place this season.

Other reports out of Europe have linked two other coaches, Norwegian Eirik Horneland and German Peter Zeidler, as being candidates for the City SC job.

Horneland, 49, coaches in Norway with Brann, which is among the top teams in the Norwegian league this season. He had a long career as a defender in the Norwegian league.

Zeidler, 62, has had a long coaching career in Europe, with his longest stint coming with Swiss club St. Gallen. He coached there for six seasons before leaving in June to coach Bochum in the Bundesliga, but he was fired there in October. He also coached Red Bull Salzburg for a season.

最新杏吧原创 City SC

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最新杏吧原创 City SC

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最新杏吧原创 City SC

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For the second year in a row, 最新杏吧原创 University took one of the best teams in the nation down to the wire, and for the second year in a row, the Billikens came up just short.

A year after losing to No. 2 seed Penn State in overtime, SLU fought back to tie its game against No. 1 Southern California three times before losing on a penalty kick in overtime, 4-3, in the second round of the NCAA women鈥檚 soccer tournament in Irvine, Calif.

"Obviously, we're pretty devastated, but I thought we played one of the best college soccer games I've ever been part of," said SLU coach Katie Shields. "I thought we played tremendously well. In the first half, we pretty quickly realized we could play with them and in the second half, came out and was on the front foot ... to continue to fight back and fight back. It was incredible."

SLU played without the most experienced goalkeepers in women鈥檚 college soccer for most of the second half and all of overtime after Emily Puricelli injured her knee in a collision with USC鈥檚 Simone Jackson in the 59th minute. Puricelli came out of her box and beat Johnson to a long ball and cleared it, but Johnson crashed into her. "Emily wasn't going to come off the field unless it was unplayable," Shields said. "Definitely something significant with her knee. It's just a heartbreaking way to end her career. ... Emily Puricelli is one of our best players, if not our best on a given night, and I think we win the game if she's able to keep on playing."

She was replaced by backup keeper Nimu Karani, a freshman who had played 117 minutes over four games during the season and who, not surprisingly, found herself in the middle of the action.聽聽

Maile Hayes scored for USC in the seventh minute of overtime after she was fouled in the penalty area by SLU鈥檚 Sophia Stram. Karani guessed correctly on Hayes鈥� PK but couldn鈥檛 get a hand on it.

It was the final game for a group of SLU seniors who raised the program to levels never seen before. The team has gone to the NCAA Tournament each of its five seasons, part of a run of seven straight trips. In consecutive season, SLU (15-2-6) has nearly knocked off one of the top teams, a far cry from 2021, when it faced No. 1 seed Rutgers and lost 4-0 and it would have been worse if not for 14 saves by Puricelli.

"I usually prepare something when I know the end of the season is coming, and I didn't let myself prepare anything tonight because I just refused to believe we weren't going to win the game," Shields said. "They've totally changed internally what our program is and the quality, the culture, the standard inside the environment, but they've also changed everything about our program and how it's perceived nationally. Each one of them has done it in their own unique way, which is so special. And in an age to be so loyal and selfless to the program is so rare. I've been doing this long enough that you don't get groups like this coming around every year."

USC looked to have won the game on a goal in the 87th minute, but 66 seconds later, Stram got her second goal of the night, volleying in a clearance attempt of a free kick. Desperate for a goal, Shields even moved center back Lyndsey Heckel to forward to add to the attack.

"That's Sophia," Shields said. "She's kind of the unsung hero, the heart of the team, so no surprise that in what would be her final college game that she was the one to keep us alive. It was a wild goal, but not surprising to anyone that knows her and knows our team to do that. They consistently do that."聽

USC (17-1-3) next faces No. 5 seed Wisconsin, which advanced on penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie with No. 4 seed Virginia, at Irvine.

SLU fell behind 12 minutes in on a goal by Maile Hayes that went between the legs of Heckel and beat Puricelli. SLU didn鈥檛 have many scoring chances in the first half, until the final seconds when a deflected shot by Rylee Howard was tipped off the crossbar by USC goalkeeper Laurence Gladu. But that chance got the team going.

"We were staring to get a couple looks," Shields said, "and Rylee's shot I think rattled their cage and gave us energy. We went into halftime and the message was, we answered a few questions, we tightened up a few things and, hey, not only can we play with these guys, we can beat these guys. And then you let the seniors and the experience take over in the second half."

Four minutes into the second half, SLU got even, when a sliding shot by Hannah Larson from the top of the penalty area beat Gladu. Two minutes after Puricelli went out, on Karani's first challenge, USC retook the lead after a Trojans shot went off the post and came to Jackson, who knocked it in. But just two minutes later, SLU got even at 2-2. A corner kick by SLU鈥檚 Katie Houck was headed away by USC, but Hannah Sawyer volleyed it in from the top of the box and Stram in front of the goal put it in. There was a lengthy video review for offsides, but the goal stood.

Maryville advances in Division II

Lexi Gentry scored goals in the 73rd and 83rd minute as Maryville came back from a 2-1 deficit to beat McKendree 3-2 in the first round of the NCAA Division II women鈥檚 tournament.

Maryville, the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Regional, will face the No. 3 seed, Grand Valley (Michigan) State at 1 p.m. Sunday at Maryville for a spot in the round of 16. Grand Valley State defeated Missouri-最新杏吧原创 2-0.

Elsa Nilson-Hurtig scored the other goal for Maryville, which remains undefeated at 16-0-3. This is the third straight season Maryville has reached the second round of the NCAAs.

SLU Billikens

Lyndsey Heckel leads SLU into its next challenge: No. 1 USC in NCAA tourney

• Tom Timmermann

SLU Billikens

Gaebe and Larson team up again to send SLU to second round of NCAA tournament

• Tom Timmermann

SLU Billikens

On a veteran SLU women's soccer team, Hope Kim making her mark as a freshman

• Tom Timmermann

When Lyndsey Heckel came to 最新杏吧原创 University to play soccer from Nerinx Hall, it turned her world around.

Heckel had been an offensive player at Nerinx, one of the best in the state. As a junior, she had 17 goals and 17 assists and was an all-state and all-Metro selection. And when she arrived at SLU, coach Katie Shields and assistant coach Chris Allen promptly converted her to a defender.

She now had to look at the field from another direction.

鈥淚t鈥檚 given me a new perspective of how I see the game,鈥� Heckel said. 鈥淗ow we keep the ball better now and how to build up through the phases of the game. I like being able to see the entire field now. I mean, I could see the entire field, but backwards when I was an offensive player, but I like it now. I tell people this all the time: I don鈥檛 think I鈥檇 go back, ever. I like where I鈥檓 at now, and I wouldn鈥檛 change it for the world.鈥�

Who knows what offensive success Heckel may have had in college, but on defense, she鈥檚 been a heck of a player: the school鈥檚 first first team All-American, a two-time Atlantic 10 defensive player of the year, a five-time first team all-conference selection, among a whole barrage of honors. SLU鈥檚 defense has been exemplary; this year, it has allowed just 10 goals in 21 games.

Next up for SLU is its biggest test, a showdown with top-seeded USC in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Irvine, California. USC is ranked fourth in the United Soccer Coaches poll and fifth in the NCAA鈥檚 RPI. The Trojans (16-1-3) are as tough an opponent as SLU (15-1-6) has faced.

It鈥檚 the rare chance for SLU to be an underdog. It doesn鈥檛 happen much in the regular season, where the Billikens have won six of the past seven Atlantic 10 regular-season championships and each of the past seven conference tournaments. In the past seven seasons, SLU has lost just three A-10 games.

鈥淲e go through the season and we鈥檙e expected to win the majority of our games, especially in the A-10,鈥� Heckel said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e being hunted by everybody, as Katie would say, whereas this time, we get to do the hunting. They have everything to lose. They鈥檙e the one seed, we鈥檙e the underdog, and we love talking about underdog mentality and playing like it. So I think it鈥檚 more focusing on us and what we what we can control and what we can do as the so-called underdogs in this situation.鈥�

鈥淎 quote we use in our program a lot,鈥� Shields said, 鈥渋s the belief of a champion 鈥� we know what that feels like and what that takes 鈥� but the mentality everyday of an underdog. When you think about 最新杏吧原创 University and where our program has come from, we鈥檝e never been a blue blood. ... It鈥檚 an easy role for us to tap into and assume. And I mean, I love it. It鈥檚 freedom. There鈥檚 nothing to lose, and it should be very freeing but also you feel like you have some of the talent that it鈥檚 going to take to perform in these games, but we鈥檙e going to have to play our best soccer for sure.鈥�

There鈥檚 no doubt they鈥檒l get that from Heckel.

鈥淢aybe the best coaching decision we 鈥� and our former associate head coach, Chris Allen, gets a lot of credit for that one as well 鈥� ever made, for sure,鈥� Shields said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e never had one as good as her. I think until somebody does it at the level she鈥檚 done it, she set a new standard for what an elite center back looks like in our program.鈥�

The move has had its challenges. While Heckel feels she has the personality to be a center back in how she plays, she鈥檚 also introverted, which can complicate things for someone who has to spend 90 minutes yelling at teammates, directing traffic, making sure everything is buttoned down.

鈥淚 still haven鈥檛 perfected that art, but yes, I鈥檝e definitely grown in that in my years of playing it,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd it鈥檚 definitely been a challenge. It鈥檚 always been something that Katie鈥檚 challenged me to work on, whether that鈥檚 in the spring or the offseason and even throughout the fall seasons of my time here.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 take off two minutes because the other team can do something and it could change just like that. You have to be switched on at all times. It鈥檚 very tiring from the mental aspect, just being clued in and switched on at all times.鈥�

SLU鈥檚 past two games have shown what Heckel can do, no matter which end of the field she鈥檚 on. In the championship game of the Atlantic 10 tournament, she put SLU ahead with a header off a corner kick, her sixth goal of the season, the second-most on the team.

Five days later, in SLU鈥檚 opening NCAA game against Kansas, the Jayhawks very nearly scored to tie the game in the 83rd minute, only this time, there was Heckel, a foot or so off the goal line, heading the ball out of danger before it could bounce into the net.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 Lyndsey to a T,鈥� said Shields. 鈥淪he does it in training every day. She saves stuff off the line. She scores goals with her head. She does some tremendous individual defending but then also leads the back line in our collective defending.鈥�

鈥淟yndsey is a one-of-a-kind player, a great teammate,鈥� said SLU goalkeeper Emily Puricelli, who has had a front row seat from directly behind Heckel for five seasons. 鈥淪cores big goals when it鈥檚 needed, and comes up for us in huge times. So it鈥檚 awesome to play with her.

鈥淪he headed the ball off the line. She made a really good play, a toe poke right away from a girl that was at the top of the 18 that could have easily scored from there. She does little things every single day, and it shows up in games. It鈥檚 awesome.鈥�

No matter how you look at it.

SLU Billikens

Gaebe and Larson team up again to send SLU to second round of NCAA tournament

• Tom Timmermann

SLU Billikens

On a veteran SLU women's soccer team, Hope Kim making her mark as a freshman

• Tom Timmermann

SLU Billikens

Lyndsey Heckel's header leads 最新杏吧原创 University to seventh successive A-10 crown

• Steve Overbey

On the eve of the NCAA soccer tournament, 最新杏吧原创 University men鈥檚 coach Kevin Kalish called it perfectly.

鈥淵ou need to score goals this time of year to win games,鈥� he said.

On a chilly and windy Thursday night, SLU could not score a goal and did not win the game. The Billikens were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament with a 2-0 loss to Kansas City before 1,051 fans who braved the weather at Hermann Stadium.

SLU finishes its season at 8-5-8. Kansas City is 13-4-3 and will face Missouri State, the No. 15 seed, in the second round on Sunday.

It didn't look like it would end that way, at least with SLU getting shut out. SLU created some promising goal-scoring opportunities in the first half, dribbling the ball into the penalty area but seldom producing dangerous chances. SLU outshot Kansas City 9-3 in the first half, but neither team could score.

These troubles are not a new phenomenon. SLU was shut out in three of its final four games.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 create enough dangerous chances,鈥� said midfielder Brogan Thompson. 鈥淲e didn't take the little spaces we had to try to hit something on frame. Just make the goalie try to make a save.鈥�

鈥淵ou look at this year, I think that was an area that we definitely feel like fell short of the goals we had,鈥� SLU coach Kevin Kalish said. 鈥淚 thought when you look at a team that can make a deep run, I don't know that we had, maybe, the attacking pieces that were in a position to do so. I thought a lot of other parts of our team were quite good, and we found ways to win games in different ways. But yeah, if you look back at the number of goals scored on the year, and just being able to consistently score goals, I think we were missing that this year.鈥�

Luis Lara, SLU鈥檚 leading scorer this season with eight goals, had just one shot on Thursday. Midfielder Seth Anderson, who is 15th in the nation in assists with nine, was limited just 31 minutes because of what Kalish termed 鈥渕assive knee problems.鈥� 鈥淪eth is a shadow of what he was throughout the year,鈥� Kalish said.

Anderson wasn鈥檛 the only injured player for SLU. Tanner Anderson, Tiago Lopes and Axel Torres, all attacking players, are out with injuries, which cost SLU some depth. In the second half, SLU put just two shots on goal. 鈥淚n the second half, we started to fade,鈥� Kalish said, 鈥渏ust due to fatigue and didn鈥檛 feel like we could maintain the level we had earlier in the year.鈥�

The game, however, was tied at 0-0 until the 67th minute. First Kansas City had a free kick after SLU freshman Jackson Delkus was called for a handball on very edge of the penalty area. The ensuing free kick was blocked and went out for a corner kick, and that鈥檚 where Julien Le Bourdoulous put the ball on the head of Guille Munoz in the box to head it home for his first college goal.

鈥淭he majority of the game, we kind of felt in control,鈥� said defender Grady Easton. 鈥淏ut it comes down to making plays at the end of the day. Good service, good finish on a set piece. We don't make some plays on offensive side. That's the game. That's how it goes. And I mean tournament time, it's who makes plays, who kind of gets on the end of things. And unfortunately, we weren't on that side.鈥�

鈥淒idn't do a good enough job on marking in the box,鈥� Kalish said. 鈥淚t's one second, one play. We talk about it, but you have to find ways to make a play in that moment. And I feel like a guy got a little bit loose, but they finish it off. And that's the name of the game.鈥�

SLU pressed forward to try to get the equalizer, but left itself open in the back and surrendered an 83rd minute goal that clinched it for Kansas City, which was making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 16 years. It the first time in 12 meetings Kansas City had beaten SLU, without ever getting even a tie.

At the final whistle, some SLU players sat on the field in quiet isolation. Eight of the 15 players who saw action for SLU were seniors.

鈥淲e had a large group, made of guys from a lot of different areas,鈥� said Townsend, a senior. 鈥淚 think we had five or six that have been here a while and have really gotten close and built a strong bond and then you add in five or six more guys and they all fit in great. All the relationships that we built were great so it鈥檒l be hard wrapping the season up like that, with all the relationships that we built.鈥�

鈥淟ove my team, love my guys and the effort they game,,鈥� said Easton, another one of those seniors.

SLU Billikens

Max Floriani anchors a stalwart defense that SLU will need in NCAA men's soccer tournament

• Tom Timmermann

Sports

U.S. men's soccer team shows its best in the first half as it beats Jamaica 4-2

• Tom Timmermann

SLU Billikens

SLU gets berth in NCAA men's soccer tournament, will host Kansas City on Thursday

• Tom Timmermann

A 最新杏吧原创 soccer supporters group is choosing to stay true to its philanthropic roots and standing down, for now at least, amid a trademark battle.

One of Major League Soccer's biggest supporter groups, the St. Louligans were formed in 2010 and have supported clubs at four different levels through the years.

In July, a St. Louligans member who works as a paralegal noticed that a company, Maryland Heights-based Beck Flavors, Inc., had begun the , a name most associate with the soccer fan club.

The year before, in 2023, knock-off Louligans gear began popping up for sale online, prompting the group to trademark the logo but not the name.

"We didn't do the name at the time, because, it sounds bad, but it was too much money," spokesman Mitch Morice said. "We'll worry about the name later, but unfortunately, when later came, somebody else had put a claim in on it."

The Louligans believe they have a strong case to fight for the name, but it would be costly.

"We were looking at, you know, tens of thousands of dollars, essentially, to try to claim a name that we've been using for 15 years, that nobody else uses, and there's even a street named after," Morice said.

As a group that prioritizes watching soccer, drinking beer and raising money for charity, the Louligans didn't want to take money that could go to help others to pay lawyers.

"We don't bring enough revenue to offset legal fees and the cost of billable hours for lawyers," Morice said. "If it comes down to seeing a kid walking around a stadium and giving him a free scarf or paying a lawyer, I'm going to give away that scarf every single time."

The group raises money for a different charity every game and holds a soccer game every January that helps to refill the 最新杏吧原创 Area Foodbank after the holidays.

Beck Flavors, the Maryland Heights company trademarking the name, is doing so for a customer they've contracted with under a non-disclosure agreement, Morice said.

"The city named a section of the 21st Street for us because of our charitable actions," Morice said. "What are you doing, registering this trademark like that? It doesn't seem like behavior that's 鈥� committed to doing good things in the community."

The Louligans are confident they can continue using their name because they've been using it for so long, which provides strong protection under Missouri trademark laws.

In the meantime, Morice is hoping fans can direct their ire to help the Louligans grow and continue their charitable support.

"If people 鈥� see this and want to be a part of it, come out. Come out to events, come out to the games, come out to street parties. Support our partners that we've partnered with: Steve's Hot Dogs has a Louligan hot dog. 2nd Shift has Brewligans (a beer). Schlafly has a Supporter's Session (another beer). These are all people that are working with us to help promote us, to help raise money for the charities with us."

最新杏吧原创 University鈥檚 offensive struggles returned at the wrong time, as it was shut out for the third time in the past four games and was eliminated from the NCAA men鈥檚 soccer tournament with a 2-0 loss to Kansas City on a chilly, windy Thursday night at Hermann Stadium.

Though SLU had more chances, Kansas City got the game鈥檚 first goal, scoring off a corner kick in the 67th minute. With SLU pushing to tie, Kansas City got a second goal in the 83rd minute.

SLU finished its season with an 8-5-8 record. Next up for Kansas City is a match with Missouri State, the No. 15 seed, on Sunday in Springfield, Missouri, with kickoff at 6:30 p.m.

SLU had made it to the finals of the Atlantic 10 tournament but did it by scoring only two goals. It advanced from the first round on penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie, then won in the second round 2-1. It was shut out in the final 3-0 by Dayton.

The play was set in motion by a handball call on SLU鈥檚 Jackson Delkus, which referee Alex Beehler ruled happened closest to the penalty area that was possible without being inside it. (Delkus also got a yellow card on the play.)

Kansas City鈥檚 free kick, from about 15 yards out, hit the SLU wall and went out for a corner kick. The corner, by Julien Le Bourdoulous, was on target and defender Guille Munoz leapt and headed the ball in from a few yards out. It was the first career goal for Munoz, a sophomore from Madrid.

With SLU throwing bodies forward to get the equalizer, Jeremy Francou took a pass from Elie Kisoka at the top of the box and had time to settle the ball before firing it from 18 yards out for his fourth goal of the season.

In a goal-less first half, SLU had most of the chances, but its nine shots weren鈥檛 very threatening and Kansas City goalkeeper Brandon McGaugh had to make only three saves, two of them on shots by Max Floriani, playing right back. It was an even easier half for SLU goalkeeper Jeremi Abonnel, who made only one save in the first half.

SIUE eliminated

Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, playing on a snow-covered field in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was knocked out of the NCAAs in the first round, losing to Western Michigan 5-1 on Thursday.

The trouble for the Cougars began even before the game, when starting goalkeeper Rob Gjelaj, the Ohio Valley Conference goalkeeper of the year, was injured in warmups and backup Ethan Kornas, who had appeared in only three games all season, starting only one, was thrust into action.

With the field on a layer of snow, except for the penalty areas and sidelines, which had been shoveled, and a neon yellow ball, SIUE fell behind in the third minute, trailed 2-0 at the half and didn鈥檛 score until the 71st minute, when the Cougars were down 4-0. Pavel Dashin converted a penalty kick after being fouled in the box.

Division II tourney starts Friday

The Division II women鈥檚 tournament starts on Friday, with a doubleheader at Maryville. In the first game, at 10 a.m., Missouri-最新杏吧原创 faces Grand Valley (Michigan) State, followed at 1 p.m. by Maryville, the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Regional, vs. McKendree. The winners will meet Sunday at 1 p.m at Maryville.

Other regional teams in the field are Central Missouri, the No. 1 seed in the Central Regional, which will play Ouachita Baptist in Warrensburg. Missouri Western, the No. 3 seed in the Central, will play Concordia-St. Paul in Mankato, Minnesota.

Maryville and McKendree also qualified for the men鈥檚 Division II tournament. Maryville, the No. 3 seed, will host Findlay on Saturday, and McKendree, the No. 2 seed, will host the winner of a match between Fort Hays State and Davenport on Sunday.

SLU Billikens

Max Floriani anchors a stalwart defense that SLU will need in NCAA men's soccer tournament

• Tom Timmermann

Sports

U.S. men's soccer team shows its best in the first half as it beats Jamaica 4-2

• Tom Timmermann

SLU Billikens

SLU gets berth in NCAA men's soccer tournament, will host Kansas City on Thursday

• Tom Timmermann

Photos: SLU meets Kansas City in first round of men's NCAA soccer tournament

The hallmark of the 最新杏吧原创 University men鈥檚 soccer team this season has been its defense. SLU has posted 10 shutouts in 20 games, tied for fourth in Division I soccer, and allowed only one goal in six other games. SLU鈥檚 goals-against average of .841 is 17th in the nation.

Which has made center back Max Floriani the perfect player for this team.

鈥淚鈥檝e always valued defending,鈥� he said Tuesday. 鈥淚 knew defense wins championships, so whatever it takes to help the team win, I鈥檓 going to do it.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 like being in the spotlight as much I like doing the dirty work. I鈥檒l feed our teammates and help, and they鈥檒l get the goals in, but I鈥檒l do the defending part and help the team get the shutout.鈥�

The notion that defense wins championships will be put to test at 7 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, when SLU faces Kansas City at Hermann Stadium. SLU (8-4-8) is back in the tournament after a one-year absence.

The Roos (12-4-3), making their first NCAA appearance since 2008, scored the fourth-most goals this season, 50 in 19 games, though that number is slightly inflated by a 12-0 win over NAIA school Avila. Still, Kansas City scored three or more goals seven times, including against Missouri State, the tournament鈥檚 15th seed and the team that awaits the winner of this game on Sunday in Springfield, Missouri.

Floriani, along with goalkeeper Jeremi Abonnel, earned first-team all-conference honors.

鈥淢ax is kind of an unheralded key piece to our team,鈥� said SLU coach Kevin Kalish. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a guy that can play a number of different positions and not only play those positions but dominate in each position he plays in. So for us, he鈥檚 one of the best defenders we鈥檝e had come through the program. And he鈥檚 got a great and bright future in the game.鈥�

鈥淗e just doesn鈥檛 give up,鈥� said forward Luis Lara, SLU鈥檚 leading scorer. 鈥淵ou feel like you might cut him a couple times to the left and right, and he鈥檒l be there. He鈥檒l be there behind you. Always. He would just not give up, which is his personality.鈥�

Kalish has played Floriani at right back on occasion, but the coach and player agree: Center back, anchoring the back line, is the place for him.

鈥淚 like center back,鈥� Floriani said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been playing center back my whole life, been thrown around a couple different places, but I鈥檓 ready to play wherever it is and help the team win. I just like being in the middle of the action.鈥�

鈥淚 feel like with Jeremi in goal and a solid back four,鈥� Kalish said, 鈥淚 think the whole team collectively defends extremely well, so that鈥檚 kind of what we pride ourselves on. But you need to score goals this time of year to win games. So looking for our attackers to definitely come through.鈥�

Floriani is from Gurnee, Illinois, north of Chicago and about 5 miles south of the Wisconsin border. He was looking for schools in the Chicago area when his friend and soccer teammate from his youth, Isaiah Parker, was recruited by SLU and suggested he consider the Billikens too. Parker connected his friend with SLU coaches, they saw him play and he joined Parker in 最新杏吧原创. Parker and Floriani were roommates that season, Parker鈥檚 only season at SLU before turning pro. Parker was chosen with the third pick overall in the 2022 MLS draft by Dallas.

For a team that was one of the last at-large selections for the tournament (only two teams with lower RPIs got in the 48-team field), the tournament has set up well for the Billikens. They got a game at home, and if they should win, in the second round when they have to face a seeded team, they get the No. 15 seed out of 16, just hours from home. SLU is 5-0-4 at Hermann Stadium this season.

鈥淲e鈥檒l be ready to play in front of our fans,鈥� Floriani said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a blessing to get the opportunity to play in front of these guys. The city鈥檚 something special, and we鈥檒l be ready to play in front of these guys for sure.鈥�

SLU will be without midfielder Carlos Leatherman, who got a red card in the Atlantic 10 tournament final.

There are echoes of the women鈥檚 tournament in this matchup. The SLU women had to face Kansas in their first round match. Now, the SLU men get Kansas City. The 最新杏吧原创-Kansas City rivalry lives on.

鈥淣othing wrong with that,鈥� Kalish said. 鈥淲e even watched City play Sporting KC at the end of the year (in MLS). So yeah, it鈥檚 always fun to have a little 最新杏吧原创 vs. KC rivalry.

鈥淥ur barbecue is better.鈥�

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