最新杏吧原创

Four games into the Mauricio Pochettino era of the U.S. national soccer team, the first half of the United States鈥� 4-2 win over Jamaica in the second leg of their quarterfinal series in the CONCACAF Nations League on Monday night at CityPark answered a lot of questions about how things are going.

The first half provided an excellent display of attractive, attacking soccer, with precise passing that created plenty of scoring chances and kept Jamaica from doing much in the way of attacking the U.S. goal. The U.S. led 3-0 after 45 minutes and could have had more.

鈥淛ust about perfect,鈥� said center back Tim Ream, the 最新杏吧原创an who captained the team. 鈥淲e spoke about that at halftime. Just the movements, the dynamic, getting everybody involved from the getgo, it was exactly the way we talked about it the last couple of days. Really just imprinting our own way on the game. To score three goals and go into halftime feeling good, feeling on top, you鈥檝e got 45 minutes to wrap it up was nice.鈥�

The second half may not have been the template for what the team wants to do, as the team clicked into cruise control and Jamaica threatened to score and, on two occasions, did. But the first half was so overpowering, it was mostly just a matter of when the game would end.

Combined with its 1-0 win in Jamaica on Thursday, the United States won the total-goal series on aggregate 5-2 and advanced to the semifinals of the Nations League, to be played in March in Los Angeles. Panama also qualified for the semifinals on Monday and the other two spots will be determined on Tuesday when Mexico plays Honduras and Canada plays Suriname. The semifinal pairings will be announced after Tuesday鈥檚 action is completed.

Christian Pulisic scored a goal and took another shot that deflected into the Jamaica net for an own goal. Both of those shots came off passes from Weston McKennie, and Ricardo Pepi and Tim Weah also scored for the Americans. Those three also scored the goals when the U.S. team was in 最新杏吧原创 last year to play a friendly match against Uzbekistan.

鈥淭he way we want to play,鈥� Pochettino said, 鈥淚 am so pleased the first 45 minutes is in the way that we want to grow, build our journey together. And I think it was fantastic to see the players perform. Yes, that is, for me, the way that we need to follow, continuous growing, improving, because in a short period, and we're not too much time to work, in the way that they adapt and receive all the concepts and the way that we try to play, shows that we have unbelievable players with the capacity to understand quick, learn quick, and that is because of our talented players.鈥�

鈥淭hat first half was dominant,鈥� Pulisic said. 鈥淲e did some really good things and put the game away. We can improve for sure on the second, but a really good step for this team.

鈥淚 think (the team鈥檚) in a good place. Just a new coach, learning some things and it鈥檚 not easy, especially with national teams, to come in and really train. You don鈥檛 have a lot of time, so I thought we did a good job of getting the point across. We put on a really good performance, we鈥檙e in a good spot now but we鈥檝e got some bigger games ahead and we need to continue to improve.鈥�

Along with two goals by the team鈥檚 top player, the other goals had their own back stories. Pepi鈥檚 goal in 42nd minute was his second in as many games as Pochettino gives an attacker who is used to coming off the bench a spot in the starting lineup. Weah鈥檚 goal in the 56th minute, three minutes after a Jamaica goal had cut the deficit to 3-1, came in his first game with the national team since getting a red card and a two-game suspension in the game with Panama in the Copa America in June. His ejection from the Panama game was a major factor in the U.S. team鈥檚 early exit from the tournament. He credited Pochettino for how well things are going.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the coach,鈥� said Weah. 鈥淲e listen to his instructions in training and we applied it to the field. He gives us the freedom to play. As you saw, Antonee (Robinson) was coming in and getting the ball, which we haven鈥檛 really tried before, so trying something new and getting the feel. Everyone has quality, so it was good to see that.鈥�

Weah, who played on the left side rather than the right because the team identified his left eye as being stronger, almost scored in the fourth minute and was dangerous early though it took him until the 56th minute to score. Yunus Musah sent a long cross to Weah in the box that he had time to stop, control and then fire it into the net.

鈥淚 think I was more excited when the other guys scored,鈥� Weah said. 鈥淚 think just being out with them was wonderful. After missing the previous camps and what happened this summer, for me I just wanted to be on the pitch with them again. It was fun tonight. We played well tonight.鈥�

Pulisic鈥檚 first goal was a beauty, a volley at ground level of a cross from McKennie and chipped it over charging goalkeeper Andre Blake. The second included another pass from McKennie that Tanner Tessmann, who had a breakout two games, let run to Pulisic, whose shot hit Jamaica鈥檚 Di鈥橲hon Bernard and radically changed course, leaving Blake helpless.

Pulisic also had a role in Pepi鈥檚 goal, making a run that pulled a defender away and gave Pepi space to shoot and score.

The second half was not as picturesque as the first. Jamaica had plenty of scoring chances as the U.S. defense was not as sharp as it needed to be. Pochettino didn鈥檛 even wait to be asked about it.

鈥淲e didn't approach the game in the way that we wanted,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e were talking about that the challenge was in the second half is to win the second half. And that was only the thing that I was a little bit worried, not to go to the second half with the same mentality and same aggressiveness and the approach that we started in the first half, and that happened. We can call it mentality, or we can call it a different word, but I what I saw is things that we still need to improve. We need to in that moment to realize and be a strong in our mind and change the tempo of the game, and not to give one chance, second chance, third chance, and then concede the goal, and then realize that we need to increase our level.鈥�

鈥淲e made some mistakes and they capitalized on us and that鈥檚 on us,鈥� Ream said. 鈥淭he coaches will analyze that and I鈥檓 sure send us clips and talk to us about it. I think overall, you can鈥檛 be pleased with the second half but to come away with four goals scored and five over the two games and moving on to the semifinals, you have to be pretty happy.鈥�

The attendance of 21,080 on a pleasant but rainy November night marked the third time more than 20,000 fans have shown up for a U.S. national team match in 最新杏吧原创 in 18 months. There were 21,216 for the Gold Cup match with St. Kitts and Nevis last summer, and 22,294 for a women鈥檚 match with Ireland. The other national team appearance here, by the men against Uzbekistan for a friendly, drew 15,569.

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Christian Pulisic and the U.S. men鈥檚 national team left nothing to chance on Monday night, scoring three times in the first half in a 4-2 win over Jamaica at CityPark to advance to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Pulisic scored two of those goals, with a deft short-hop volley of a cross from Weston McKennie in the 14th minute. His second goal came in the 33rd minute, as Tanner Tessmann let another pass from McKennie roll to him, and his shot hit Jamaica defender Di鈥橲hon Bernard and the direction change left goalkeeper Andre Blake helpless. Ricardo Pepi and Tim Weah also scored for the U.S. Coincidentally, when the U.S. beat Uzbekistan 3-0 in a friendly here last summer, it was Pulisic, Pepi and Weah who scored the goals.

Jamaica didn鈥檛 get its goals until the U.S. was up 3-0 and never got closer than two.

The attendance of 21,080 marked the third time more than 20,000 fans have shown up for a U.S. national team match in 最新杏吧原创 in the past 18 months. There were 21,216 for the Gold Cup match with St. Kitts and Nevis last summer and 22,294 for a women鈥檚 match with Ireland. The other national team appearance here, by the men against Uzbekistan for a friendly, drew 15,569.

Pulisic, who was subbed out in the 69th minute, became the quickest player in U.S. men鈥檚 team history to get to 50 goal contributions. The game Monday was his 76th with the national team.

The U.S. got a third goal from Pepi, who had scored the lone goal in the U.S. team鈥檚 1-0 win in Jamaica on Thursday. Pepi took a pass from Antonee Robinson and, with Pulisic making a run to stretch the defense, had room to shoot from the top of the box for the goal.

The U.S. had almost gone ahead in the fourth minute on a shot by Weah that hit the post and bounced away. Weah, playing his first game with the national team since getting a red card in a Copa America match in June, was dangerous on the left wing, both in passing and shooting.

The rains came just before halftime, and it picked up the pace as the second half began.

Demarai Gray scored for Jamaica in the 53rd minute to cut into the lead to 3-1, but just three minutes later, Weah got the goal he looked like he was going to get, with a cross from Yunus Musah finding him with plenty of time and space to settle the ball and fire it in past Blake to make it 4-1.

That left Jamaica with a tall hill to climb.

It got one goal back in the 68th minute when Gray scored again, putting in a rebound of a shot by Renaldo Cephas on which U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner made a diving save.

It was a decisive start in a game in which the United States faced potential elimination from the Nations League tournament. A win by Jamaica would have sent it through to the semifinals.

It鈥檚 not the first time the United States has been in a situation like that against Jamaica, but it鈥檚 been a while. In 1988, the countries met at the Soccer Park in Fenton in the first round of qualifying. After playing a 0-0 draw in the first leg, the match was tied 1-1 in the second half, a result that would put Jamaica through. But the Americans went on to win 5-1, the first stop on the path that took them to their first World Cup in 40 years.

Tim Ream captained the team, his 14th time wearing the armband the American squad. Pochettino kept together his back line from the game in Jamaica, with Ream paired with Mark McKenzie in the middle, Antonee Robinson on the left and Joe Scally on the right.

The only change in the U.S. lineup from the first game was Tim Weah, who was ineligible for the first game because of a red card suspension, entering the lineup and Johnny Cardoso, who was unavailable because of a strained left hamstring.

This is the last time Pochettino will have his best players together until the March international window, though the U.S. will have its usual January camp for MLS players. The U.S. announced its first match of 2025 on Monday, a game with Venezuela on Jan. 18 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in conjunction with that camp.

March will be the time for the semifinals and finals of the Nations League in Los Angeles. The pairings, which are based on international rankings, will be announced after quarterfinal play concludes on Tuesday.

Panama and Costa Rica played their second leg on Monday night and Canada and Suriname and Mexico and Honduras will play theirs on Tuesday. Canada beat Suriname 1-0 in the first leg and Honduras beat Mexico 2-0. Following that first match in Honduras, Mexico coach Javier Aguirre was struck in the head by a beer can, leaving him with blood streaming down his head.

CONCACAF ruled Monday that Honduras will have to play its next CONCACAF home match behind closed doors.

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Photos: USA beats Jamaica 4-2 in quarterfinals of Nations League

The U.S. men鈥檚 national soccer team is becoming a regular visitor to CityPark as the team makes its third visit to 最新杏吧原创 in 18 months on Monday, and with them will be a regular face returning to the lineup.

Forward Tim Weah, who hasn鈥檛 played with the national team since getting a red card for hitting a player during a match with Panama in the Copa America in June, will see action as the United States faces Jamaica at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Nations League. As of Sunday afternoon, more than 19,000 tickets had been sold for the game, which will be broadcast on TNT.

The CONCACAF Nations League doesn鈥檛 have much of a history 鈥� this is just the fourth time the tournament has been contested 鈥� but it does count, which gives it a little something more than the friendlies that mostly populate the U.S. schedule as it avoids the cauldron of qualifying and prepares to host the 2026 World Cup.

With the United States winning the first leg of the two-game series 1-0 on Thursday in Jamaica, a tie is enough to send the United States through to the semifinals in March. A 1-0 win for Jamaica would send the match to 30 minutes of overtime and, if that doesn鈥檛 settle matters, penalty kicks. Any other win by Jamaica would send it through to the next round and eliminate the U.S. (Road goals is the first tiebreaker.)

It鈥檚 the fourth game for new U.S. coach Maurico Pochettino, who was hired on Sept. 10, and his first domestic match in an official competition. And while his main responsibility is getting the U.S. team ready for 2026, one of the ways to do that is to play in games where more is at stake.

鈥淚 think we need to increase the pressure over us because I see that is going to be important,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ecause I see we are USA and we need to perform and we need to win games. That is our culture. I understood after a few days, a few weeks, a few months, that the culture here is about to win and to increase that pressure, and that expectation is going to put us in a very uncomfortable zone that is to not only go and to play, it鈥檚 the goal is to compete and win.鈥�

Weah got a two-game suspension for the red card and missed the first game with Jamaica. That red card cost the U.S. in the Copa America; it lost 2-1 to Panama in a match it really needed to win to get out of group play. The United States lost its third match and was eliminated, an early exit that led to the firing of Gregg Berhalter as coach.

鈥淚t was hard because it played a pretty negative role on how the rest of the tournament went,鈥� Weah said Sunday morning prior to practice. 鈥淥bviously, no player wants that to happen. No player wants to be the reason why his team gets knocked out. Not exactly the reason, but it played a huge factor in why we didn鈥檛 go on. It was a moment, and I think I鈥檝e kind of accepted it and matured in a way that it will never happen again. Just have to move on and focus on the positives and what you can do leading up to our next big major tournament.鈥�

His return to camp with the team has been uneventful.

鈥淚 got to be honest,鈥� said U.S captain and center back Tim Ream, 鈥渕ost of it was said straight after that Panama game. I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 been too much discussion in this camp at all regarding that situation. And obviously emotions run high and situations happen in games, but I think everything that needed to be said was said straight after that Panama game.

鈥淎nd that鈥檚 not even dressing him down and yelling at him or telling him that he messed up. He knew that himself. That鈥檚 the sign of somebody who understands their role. It鈥檚 the sign of a good group, of a good team that we didn鈥檛 have to. You could see it on his face from the minute we walked inside from that game. So it鈥檚 easy for us to have him back.鈥�

Weah鈥檚 early exit from Copa America left him with a long, idle summer as he waited for play to resume for his Italian club, Juventus.

鈥淚t was tough,鈥� he said. 鈥淗aving the summer off kind of just put a lot of things in perspective and kind of just focused on all the positives, just being there for the rest of the guys and soaking in all the love that I can for family. Obviously, the negative comments on the internet, I really didn鈥檛 look at it much, so that kind of helped. But leading to Copa, we had this big dream of doing something amazing, and it didn鈥檛 happen, and that was just the reality of it. And now we can focus on something else, focus on something bigger, and now it鈥檚 just time to work on that and be positive and go in that positive direction.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 a great opportunity for him for us to see him,鈥� Pochettino said, 鈥渁nd then until March, we have the possibility to have another opportunity to see all the players that compete there and I see tomorrow, for sure, he鈥檚 going to have minutes, and he鈥檚 going to be on the pitch. I think he鈥檚 a very good player, very aggressive with the ball, fast, good legs, and I think he鈥檚 young but it鈥檚 normal.

鈥淗e made a mistake. Now we need to help him to evolve and learn, but I think a very clever player, always smiling. He brought very good energy to the group, but the most important is the performance and how he鈥檚 going to perform tomorrow and hope that he can add his quality and help the team to achieve a very good result.鈥�

Weah, who scored in the U.S. team鈥檚 most recent game here, against Uzbekistan, has four goals in eight Serie A games with Juventus, where he has started the team鈥檚 past four games. Because Weah wasn鈥檛 eligible for the first game, when the team headed from its camp in Orlando to Jamaica, Weah flew to 最新杏吧原创. On Thursday, he made a visit to Children鈥檚 Hospital, which had a little extra meaning for him.

鈥淚t was amazing,鈥� Weah said. 鈥淕rowing up in the hospital, because my mother was (a registered nurse), was a huge moment for me. It was just lovely seeing all the kids and being able to share that moment with them.鈥�

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Tim Ream has gone from England to America, from living in London to living in Charlotte, North Carolina, from playing in the Premier League to playing in Major League Soccer. But he just keeps on going, keeps being the same player which, it turns out, is one of his strongest attributes.

Not much seems to change the 最新杏吧原创 native and starting center back for the U.S. national team. In a year in which Ream left his longtime home in England, where he played for 13 seasons, to return to America and play in MLS for Charlotte FC, he remains a fixture with the U.S. national team, which is in town to face Jamaica on Monday night at CityPark in the second leg of their CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal series.

That consistency and that experience is something coaches and teammates have long valued.

鈥淚 think he鈥檚 a very consistent player, always regular,鈥� said U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino, who has started Ream in each of his first three games running the national team. 鈥淗e鈥檚 calm. The experience he can relate to the group, I really like. The knowledge of the game, the experience in the Premier League, I think makes him a very good reference for the young guys, and also in that start of the process, he鈥檚 a player that helped to translate the ideas that we have. Maybe we have not too much time (together in camp), but I think he鈥檚 a guy that has the possibility to understand really quick because of his experience and his knowledge and then to help the coaching staff relate that to the team.鈥�

鈥淲e know Tim,鈥� said U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner. 鈥淗e鈥檚 going to bring a level head, a steady hand to everybody. Everybody looks up to him.鈥�

The changes Ream has gone through in the past six months are significant, on and off the field. Ream left Fulham, the West London club he had played with for nine seasons, to come back to America to finish his professional career, joining Charlotte for the stretch run of its season.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been fairly smooth, to be honest with you,鈥� he said Saturday after the U.S. team鈥檚 first training session in 最新杏吧原创 since arriving from Jamaica. 鈥淚 think the harder transition is always off the field, when you have a family, when you have three young kids, and taking them from an area they鈥檝e known their entire life. But in terms of playing, I mean, it鈥檚 for me, you leave one changing room, you go into another changing room, and you immerse yourself in with a group and just try to understand what the coaches and the staff are asking you to do. So obviously, everybody knows that the level is a little bit different, but if you keep your own standards high, and you put the pressure on yourself to perform and be one of the best on the team, then you keep your level at where it was previously. The transition has been pretty comfortable, pretty seamless, and pretty happy with it so far.鈥�

Ream, who played with the Scott Gallagher club, St. Dominic High and SLU before starting in MLS in 2010, played nine games with Charlotte this season, with the team having four wins and a tie in its final five games to finish fifth in the Eastern Conferences. Charlotte was knocked out in the first round of the playoffs by Orlando in three games, though it wasn鈥檛 the defense鈥檚 fault. Charlotte allowed the second-fewest goals in MLS in the regular season and allowed just three in its three playoff games, but its offense scored just once.

Ream鈥檚 start on Thursday in Jamaica, a 1-0 U.S. win, was his 65th appearance with the U.S. national team, second only to Christian Pulisic, with 75, on the current roster. Ream is two caps behind Mike Sorber, with 67, for the most appearances by a 最新杏吧原创-born player and the game also marked the 13th time as captain of the U.S. team.

When he played in the Jamaica game, he was 37 years and 40 days old, making him the oldest field player to start for the U.S. in an official competition since Thomas Dooley (38 years, 44 days) in the 1998 World Cup.

It鈥檚 been a frequent topic for Ream, to the point where he laughs at it: How much longer can he go on? For a while, he said. He鈥檚 not feeling old yet.

鈥淣o, definitely not,鈥� he said, sitting alongside his centerback partner from Thursday, Mark McKenzie, who is 25. 鈥淚 think it definitely helps coming in, sitting next to these guys who are 24, 25, 26 and listening to them and just having conversations with them. I still feel young, I feel great, still feel like I can play at least two to three more years. As long as I continue to be happy and healthy and mentally, physically, emotionally (fit), and still have that desire to go out and train every single day and play every single weekend, I don鈥檛 see it stopping anytime soon.鈥�

鈥淚f I could play as many games in my career as Tim Ream has played, that鈥檒l be a huge success,鈥� said Turner, the only other player on the roster to have turned 30. 鈥淔or him to be still performing at this level, in these matches, in these environments, it just sets the stage for guys coming through that that鈥檚 the north star, that鈥檚 the gold standard. If you take care of yourself and take care of your bits, you can play this game for a long, long time at a good level.鈥�

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最新杏吧原创 University鈥檚 men鈥檚 soccer team slipped into the NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid and will host Kansas City in the first round on Thursday at Hermann Stadium.

SLU was one of the last at-large teams announced in the 48-team field. SLU finished 37th in the NCAA鈥檚 RPI, and only two schools lower, No. 38 UC Santa Barbara and No. 39 UCLA, got into the field. One school ahead of it, No. 35 North Carolina Greensboro, didn鈥檛 make it. SLU coach Kevin Kalish had a list of bubble teams he was checking off as the participants were announced, and he was running out of options.

鈥淒efinitely on the edge of our seats with the guys in the locker room,鈥� Kalish said, 鈥渂eing in that last quadrant that was called out, but I think the suspense makes it fun when you hear your name, so was definitely a surreal experience.

鈥淓verybody was part relieved, part excited. It really feel like this team is one of the top 48 teams in the country, so glad to see the body of work was good enough. ... With a lot of teams off the board, it was cause for a little bit more anxiety than I wished for.鈥�

SLU (8-4-8) was walking a fine line going into selection day after losing 3-0 to Dayton in the Atlantic 10 tournament final on Sunday. But the top teams in potential one-bid conferences did a good job of securing their automatic berths, leaving more spots open for the 26 at-large berths.

This is the third trip to the NCAAs in four years for SLU, which missed last season. It鈥檚 a record 51st NCAA appearance.

Though SLU will host the game at 7 p.m. Thursday, Kansas City finished higher in the RPI, at No. 24. The Roos (12-4-3) won the Summit League championship, beating Denver, the No. 3 seed in the NCAA field, on a goal with 13 seconds to play.

SLU goes into the NCAAs with only two losses in its past 16 games, both to Dayton, the tournament鈥檚 No. 5 seed and a team, mercifully, not in the Billikens鈥� quarter of the bracket. SLU鈥檚 strength of schedule is third in the country.

鈥淲e have a tight-knit group,鈥� Kalish said. 鈥淣ine of our games have been against NCAA Tournament teams. We feel like we鈥檙e battle tested, we鈥檝e played some fantastic competition and on the day can compete with anybody. Just have to make sure to prepare for another close game, which will be against Kansas City.鈥�

The winner of the SLU-Kansas City game will travel to face No. 15 overall seed Missouri State, which has a first-round bye, in the second round on Sunday. SLU and MSU played to a 0-0 tie in October in Springfield.

SLU was one of four A-10 schools to make the tournament, along with Dayton, Massachusetts and Fordham.

Southern Illinois Edwardsville (12-4-3), which was an automatic qualifier by winning the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, will face Western Michigan on Thursday on the road. The winner of that match will face the tournament鈥檚 top seed, Ohio State.

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最新杏吧原创 University鈥檚 men鈥檚 soccer season likely ended Sunday with a loss in the Atlantic 10 Tournament final, while Southern Illinois Edwardsville will be in the NCAAs for the second season in a row.

SLU lost to Dayton 3-0 in the A-10 final, with SLU playing with 10 men after Carlos Leatherman got his second yellow card in the 35th minute. Dayton got all its goals after going up a man, scoring in the 43rd, 71st and 74th minutes.

The Billikens finished their season with a record of 8-4-8. SLU went into the final with an RPI of 35, but with just a 48-team field for the men鈥檚 tournament, that likely won鈥檛 get them in unless everything breaks just right for them, though several one-bid leagues helped as their best teams secured their automatic berths.

SIUE beat Houston Christian 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night to win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and secure its spot. Wes Gibson scored on a header off a corner kick in the 104th minute to win it. SIUE had taken a 1-0 lead but trailed 2-1 before Pavel Dashin scored in the 83rd minute to send the game to overtime.

This is the first time since 2005 and 2006 that SIUE has reached the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons.

Missouri State lost in the Missouri Valley Conference semifinals but is 11th in the NCAA RPI and will likely get an at-large berth.

The pairings for the tournament will be announced at noon Monday on .

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SLU鈥檚 women鈥檚 soccer team will face Southern California in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Carson, California. USC (16-1-3), one of the No. 1 seeds in the tournament, defeated Sacramento State 5-0 on Sunday. USC is ranked fifth nationally and is unbeaten in its past 14 home games.

The winner of that game will play either No. 4 seed Virginia or No. 5 Wisconsin in the third round on Sunday at the same site.

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• Tom Timmermann

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SLU's finishes need some work, but Billikens hold on to beat Loyola Marymount 77-71

• Tom Timmermann

SLU Billikens

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

• Tom Timmermann

When Emily Gaebe scored for 最新杏吧原创 University in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 women鈥檚 soccer tournament, Hannah Larson had the assist.

When Gaebe scored twice in the final against Massachusetts, Larson had the assist on each of them. And when Gaebe scored the only goal for SLU in its NCAA first-round tournament match with Kansas, the assist could come from only one person: Larson.

Those two hooking up in the 20th minute was all SLU needed to advance to the round of 32 with a 1-0 win over Kansas before 3,136 fans, the third-biggest crowd for a SLU women鈥檚 game, at Hermann Stadium on Friday.

鈥淚 feel like we鈥檝e been doing that at practice,鈥� said Gaebe, who scored her 16th goal of the season, tying her school record she set last season, 鈥渟o it was nice to see that translate to the field today.鈥�

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 just a testament to our relationship off the field,鈥� said Larson, who leads the team in assists with seven. 鈥淲e鈥檙e buddies and I think it helps when you鈥檙e playing along with somebody who鈥檚 super humble like that, and so it鈥檚 just a joy to be able to do anything with her on the field. You watcher play and you鈥檙e like, what? She鈥檚 a walking highlight reel.鈥�

鈥淭hat goal was definitely vintage,鈥� said SLU coach Katie Shields. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e played together for four years now and they just sense each other really well.鈥�

SLU (15-1-6) will play the winner of the game between No. 1 seed Southern California and Sacramento State on Sunday. If USC wins, SLU will travel to Los Angeles and play the Trojans. If Sacramento State wins, SLU will play the Hornets at Charlottesville, Virginia, the home of Virginia, the next-highest seed in that portion of the bracket.

The goal started with a long ball from Lyndsey Heckel that Gaebe took and then passed to Larson. Gaebe kept going forward, without anyone from Kansas staying with her, and when Larson gave it back to her, it was Gaebe in alone on Kansas goalkeeper Sophie Dawe and she chipped it past her and in.

The goal was a relief for both of them. Gaebe was alone on goal before and shot over the crossbar in the second minute and Larson had a good chance in the 12th minute but got too close to Dawe in goal and got her shot deflected. Both thought they should have scored.

鈥淚 should have put that one away,鈥� said Larson, who has one goal this season after scoring seven last year. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e creating the chances. And it is so fun, with me and Gaebe, one off of each other, so really it鈥檚 something cool.鈥�

鈥淚 knew after that first one that I put over the bar,鈥� Gaebe said, 鈥淚 was like, 鈥業 gotta put one in now. I can鈥檛 not.鈥� 鈥�

鈥淕aebe probably could have had two goals and an assist in the first 25 minutes,鈥� Shields said. 鈥淪he told me when she missed the first, she鈥檇 better score or she鈥檇 hear about it at halftime. She鈥檚 so special. I thought the goal was incredible, one of the better goals she鈥檇 score all year.鈥�

SLU was wishing it had those goals in the second half, where after a quiet first half, Kansas put steady pressure on the SLU goal. Goalkeeper Emily Puricelli had to make some tough saves in close quarters and Heckel headed clear a shot off the goal line in the 83rd minute.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 the plan,鈥� Shields said. 鈥淚 love how we started the game. I loved the first 25 minutes. Obviously we scored the goal. I think we just struggled to then get the same amount of pressure on the ball in the second half. They kind of came to life and it鈥檚 just the way the game played out. So it was not the plan coming out of halftime to try to hang on to 1-0, but also, as the game wears, it鈥檚 just kind of what played out. But it wasn鈥檛 planned.鈥�

With SLU on the road for likely the rest of the tournament, this was a goodbye for the seniors to Hermann Stadium and playing in front of the home fans. Larson is a senior, but she has a year of eligibility remaining and hasn鈥檛 made a final decision on what she鈥檚 going to do. 鈥淚鈥檓 not like 100 percent being (not returning), but I do want to play professionally,鈥� she said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a sweet and sad moment,鈥� she said. 鈥淧laying at Hermann鈥檚 like one of the coolest things ever. The fan base is awesome. The grass is beautiful and amazing. It was such a sweet gift to end our last game as seniors with a win on this field in the NCAA championship.鈥�

SLU women beat Kansas in first round of 2024 Women's NCAA soccer championship tourney

Billikens take on Jayhawks in first round of NCAA tournament

Billikens take on Jayhawks in first round of NCAA tournament

Billikens take on Jayhawks in first round of NCAA tournament

Billikens take on Jayhawks in first round of NCAA tournament

Billikens beat Jayhawks 1-0 in first round of NCAA tournament

Billikens take on Jayhawks in first round of NCAA tournament

Billikens beat Jayhawks 1-0 in first round of NCAA tournament

Billikens beat Jayhawks 1-0 in first round of NCAA tournament

Billikens beat Jayhawks 1-0 in first round of NCAA tournament

Billikens take on Jayhawks in first round of NCAA tournament

Billikens beat Jayhawks 1-0 in first round of NCAA tournament

Billikens take on Jayhawks in first round of NCAA tournament