Saint Louis senior forward John Klein scored twice and Christian Buendia tacked on another as the Billikens registered a 3-1 victory over La Salle Saturday night in the Atlantic 10 Conference opener at McCarthy Stadium in Philadelphia.
It was the second win in a row for the Billikens, who improve to 3-3 overall and 1-0 in the league. La Salle falls to 1-4-2 and 0-1 in A-10 play.
Klein has vaulted into elite territory in the Billikens’ record book with his two goals tonight. He now has 73 career points (25G, 23A), tying him with Denny Hadican and Kyle Patterson for 18th in school history. He is the first Billiken since Robert Kristo to crack SLU’s top 20 career scoring list and just the fourth player this century to rank among the program’s top 20 scorers.
Klein got the Billikens on the scoreboard in the 27th minute on a goal off a Seth Anderson assist.
Buendia tallied in the 40th minute, unassisted, for what would eventually become the game-winning goal.
Early in the second half, Klein converted a penalty kick to make it a 3-0. La Salle scored in the 75th minute, but SLU held the Explorers at bay the rest of the way for the 3-1 final.
Carlos Tofern made four saves for his second straight win between the posts. Shots were even at nine apiece, as were corner kicks as each team had three.
Next up for the Billikens is a Homecoming matchup against VCU at Hermann Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 24. Game time is 7:30 p.m., with the traditional Homecoming fireworks display taking place at halftime.
