Saint Louis men’s soccer gets a high-profile nonconference test Saturday when the Billikens welcome No. 14 Akron to Hermann Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
The matchup is a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament quarterfinal, when SLU rallied from a deficit in Akron and scored three second-half goals to win 3-2 and punch its ticket to the College Cup. The Zips had taken the regular-season meeting 3-0 earlier that year.
Saint Louis enters 2-2-1. Akron is 3-0-1 after knocking off then-No. 18 Cornell earlier this week.
Five different Billikens have scored the team’s seven goals. Tanner Anderson and Andrew Heckenlaible each have two. Jackson Delkus, Theo Franca and Guilherme Gomes have one apiece. Heckenlaible also has an assist and leads the team with five points.
Anderson is SLU’s active career leader with 14 goals and 31 points.
Both of Saint Louis’ wins this season have been shutouts. Lucas McPartlin blanked Seattle in a 4-0 result; Christian Herluf kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Green Bay.
Ninth-year head coach Kevin Kalish is 84-36-36 at SLU and 133-82-50 in 15 seasons as a college head coach. He is a three-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year.
The series dates to 1960. Saint Louis leads 9-5-1 in 16 meetings. Before last year’s NCAA win, Akron had gone unbeaten in the previous five (4-0-1).
The game streams on ESPN+. Discounted tickets are available. Live stats are on StatBroadcast.
SLU opens Atlantic 10 play at Dayton on Sept. 19. The next home match is Sept. 26 against Duquesne for Homecoming & Family Weekend, with the traditional halftime fireworks, at 6:30 p.m.
