St. Louis, MO, 9/21/21 – The Blue Jays men's soccer team came into Tuesday nights SLIAC road game against the Fontbonne University Griffins riding high on their Saturday victory. The Blue Jays would ride that momentum to another four-goal game and a second consecutive SLIAC victory 4-3 over the Griffins. The win improved the Jays record to 2-3-1 and 2-0 in the SLIAC while the Griffins fall to 1-4 and 1-2 in the SLIAC.
The Griffins got on the board first in the 13tth minute. The Blue Jays would not waste time scoring the equalizer. In the 16th minute Westminster senior forward Bakuru Dieudone (Columbia, MO / Hickman) crossed a ball to streaking junior midfielder Freddy Nene (Columbia, MO / Rock Bridge) who put the ball away to tie the score at 1-1. In the 24th minute the Blue Jays was tackled in the box resulting in a penalty kick. Sophomore forward Mustekbel Shoune (Columbia, Mo. / Rock Bridge) would take the shot and bury it for a 2-1 lead heading to halftime.
In the second half the Griffins would strike in the 54th minute to tie the game 2-2. When freshman midfielder Niklas Olsson (Kansas City, MO / Liberty) would take a cross from sophomore midfielder Nolan Deane (Eureka, MO / Eureka) and score in the 56th minute to give the Blue Jays a 3-2 lead. The Blue Jays would extend their lead in the 80th minute when the reigning SLIAC Offensive Player of the Week, senior defender Barrett Smith (Columbia, MO / Rock Bridge), would strike a shot from 30 yards out to beat the Griffin keeper in the top right corner of the goal for a 4-2 lead. That goal would prove to be the game winning goal as the Griffins would complete the scoring in the 87th minute off of a free kick.
The Griffins outshot the Blue Jays 22-11 and 11-7 in shots on goal. The Blue Jays took advantage of their opportunities to prevail in the match despite being outshot. Both teams took five corner kicks and the Blue Jays committed 13 fouls to 11 for the Griffins. Sophomore Goalkeeper Chris Lannom (Forney, Tx. / Forney) went 90 minutes in goal for the Blue Jays to get his first win of the season.
The Blue Jays will return home on Saturday September 25th when the Jays will welcome the Principia College Panthers to Kent and Judith Mueller Stadium. The game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. kick off.
