It is the time of year when the media covers Super Bowl teams and which is more likely to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the end of the game. Even speculations about the quality of the halftime performance – this year: Katy Perry – is touched upon in the media, but this year there has been minimal coverage on the actual Super Bowl itself. If one turns on ESPN, he or she will surely hear about the NFL’s investigation of the New England Patriots, after it was found that 11 of the 12 footballs used by the team in the first half of the AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts were underinflated by 2 psi. According to NFL rules, footballs must be inflated to between 12.5 and 13.5 psi. The media has dubbed this controversy “Deflategate.”

The facts surrounding the story of how the deflated footballs were discovered have changed over the course of the past week and a half. It was initially reported that Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson noticed the underinflated footballs after intercepting a pass from Tom Brady and handed the ball to the Colts equipment manager in order to confirm his suspicions. Jackson has since denied this story, stating that he wanted the ball for his trophy case and had no idea that the ball was not up to the NFL’s standards. Since the game, the NFL has conducted over 40 interviews and is planning to conduct player interviews sometime in the next few weeks, but the league has commented little on its findings, other than the fact that the footballs were indeed underinflated in the first half. Officials reinflated the balls at the half. The investigation is being run by NFL executive vice president and general counsel Jeff Pash and attorney Ted Wells, who was a part of the investigating team in the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick has held two press conferences since the “Deflategate” story broke and has denied any involvement, even stating that he does not know the process of how the balls are prepped for the game. In the first conference, on Jan. 22, Belichick responded to a number of questions, saying that he did not have an explanation for the underinflated balls. The media later ridiculed Belichick, saying that the coach had pushed the blame onto Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, specifically when he said that quarterbacks have specific preferences for footballs, inferring that Brady would know more about the situation then Belichick did. After the press conference wrapped up, many sports analysts thought that Brady would admit to the press in his later presser that he knew that the footballs had been deflated, but Brady also denied any involvement or knowledge of the situation.

This led to a firestorm in the media, with sportscasters questioning how a quarterback could not notice a 2 psi difference in a football and how the referees, who touch the football before every play, could fail to pick up on this either. Coach Belichick held a second, unscheduled press conference on Jan. 24, reiterating that he had no knowledge of the incident and stated, “I believe now 100 percent that I have personally and we as an organization have absolutely followed every rule to the letter.”

One theory going around is that the temperature, heavy rain and wind in Foxborough could have altered the pressure of the footballs, but the investigation is ongoing. Although the Patriots are giving the NFL their full cooperation, it is likely that the investigation will go well into the offseason before a ruling comes down from the league.

Questions on the seriousness of this incident have arisen, as the second-half footballs were within regulation, and that is when the Patriots scored the majority of their points in the 45-7 win, but this controversy has brought up memories of the other controversy in the Patriots’ past under Belichick: “Spygate.” This scandal came to light in 2007, when the team was caught videotaping opposing teams’ signals and using them to gain an advantage during games. As a result, the Patriots were fined $250,000 and had their first-round draft pick taken away. Because this is the second Patriots cheating scandal under Belichick, there has been a cry for harsher punishment, as analysts around the league weigh in on the now questionable legacy of Belichick’s Patriots.

The Billikens began the NCAA tournament at home against Tulsa on Nov. 20. Tulsa ended their regular season 11-5-3 and was previously defeated by SLU 1-0 in an early-season matchup. SLU dominated time of possession and was on the offensive early, getting a shot on goal within the first three minutes of the game. Both teams were evenly matched in the first half in terms of scoring opportunities with four shots on goal each, but only two of these shots required saves from SLU keeper Sascha Otte and Tulsa keeper Jake McGuire. The half ended in a scoreless draw; senior forward Robert Kristo had two opportunities to put the Billikens up, and senior midfielder Kingsley Bryce and junior forward Francisco Vizcaino had a shot apiece.

The second half began much like the first, with both teams sharing opportunities to pull ahead. The Billikens were able to take advantage of an opportunity in the 62nd minute when Kristo made a play on the ball toward the goal, which was poked in by Bryce from three yards out. Bryce and Kristo beat the defense again in the 87th minute, but this time it was Kristo who had the goal after rocketing the ball into the goal from the far-right corner of the box. This goal would put the Billikens up 2-0, which was the final score of the game.

Both Kristo and Bryce agreed that this second game was much like the first, with the Billikens going up a goal and then holding off Tulsa with their strong defense until the end of the game, but Bryce did comment that he felt that the team had grown a lot since their first meeting. Being the Billikens’ last home and the last home game ever for both Kristo and Bryce, they both had comments on the emotions they felt after the victory.

“It is a hell of a memory to go out on. They are a top team in America, and the way they play is not easy to beat,” Kristo said.

“[The game] meant a lot to me … I did everything that I could today, and I know we all did. We all wanted it, and the people that came off the bench showed just as much heart as anybody else,” Bryce said.

After the home victory, SLU went on to play No. 13 Louisville on their home field on Nov. 23, in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Billikens had previously beaten Louisville (10-7-3) in an early-season game, 1-0. SLU went up 1-0 in the 68th minute, when Vizcaino handled a header off of a rebound that ricocheted off the Louisville goalie, originally shot by junior defender Filip Pavisic on a corner kick. Louisville quickly responded, in the 71st minute, when Andrew Brody scored his third goal of the season, from short range. It seemed that the 1-1 score would hold, sending the game into overtime, but with 3:43 left in the game, Tim Kubel scored to give Louisville the 2-1 victory.

This loss ended the Billiken’s season with a record of 14-5-2. Freshman goalie Sacha Otte ended the season with two miraculous saves, one in the 16th minute on a breakaway, and the other five minutes later, after Ricardo Velazco sent a line drive toward the goal.

“It would have been nice to have more chances, but part of that was Louisville being good with the ball and not turning it over,” head coach Mike McGinty said, after analyzing the game statistics, specifically the fact that Louisville topped Saint Louis in shot opportunities 10-6.

“I thought we started the game, in the first 20 minutes, pretty lively. We created a few more chances in the first half. I think as the game went on, we kind of ran out of gas. We had a couple of guys go down with injuries, so it was tough by the end of the game,” McGinty said.

This season-ending loss means a few things for the Billikens. Most of the team will return next year, but key senior players Raymond Lee, Anthony Manning, William Hidalgo, Josh Kohring, Kristo and Bryce will all be leaving. It will be up to the younger players to step up and fill the huge shoes of the seniors for next season, but they will still have guidance from such players as Marco Heskamp and David Graydon.

The Billikens should be proud of their accomplishments this season, including being undefeated on their home field and having multiple players receive prestigious awards, and they should look forward to the potential of this team going into next season.

The No. 11 Billikens concluded their regular season schedule against VCU Friday, Nov. 7, in Richmond, Va. The Rams came into the game as the only unbeaten team left in the A-10 conference, holding a record of 7-7-4 overall, and have not allowed a goal in the past 572 minutes of game time.

A lot was at stake for both teams; a win for the Billikens would seal the No. 2 seed going into the A-10 championship being held at VCU, while a win for the Rams would mean that they would tie for the A-10 regular season title with University of Rhode Island if URI lost on Sunday, Nov. 9. A win would also mean momentum for both teams going into the post-season.

SLU and VCU exchanged opportunities to score in the first 45 minutes with four shots on goal each, but neither found their mark. SLU could not take advantage of the two corner kick attempts in the first half either. This resulted in a scoreless first half, with the second half following the same trend until 74:32.

Robert Kristo has been on fire this season with ten goals and has continually come through for the Billikens- this game being no different than the rest. Kristo converted his 11th goal of the season unassisted to give the Billikens a 1-0 lead. Kristo scored off of a free kick, ripping the ball past the goalie near the far post.

VCU was unable to beat SLU’s consistently tough defense, and the 1-0 score remained for the rest of the game. Although both teams had eight shots on target, the defense held strong. Sascha Otte made one save for the game, to successfully complete an astounding, league-leading 11 shutouts for the season.

Although he allowed a goal, VCU keeper Garrett Cyprus had four saves for the game, shutting out the Billikens for the majority of the 90 minutes.

Coach Mike McGinty commented on the win stating,  “Just like last week against Rhode Island, this was a tough, tight game and our guys found a way to get the win.” Not only did the Billikens manage to get the victory, but this will be the second week in a row that they would hand a team in the A-10 conference their first loss of the season.

However, Coach McGinty is not letting this win distract the team from what comes next for the Billikens, stating, “This was a great result, now we look forward to getting ready for the postseason.”

The Billikens will end the season with an overall record of 12-3-2, and an A-10 record of 5-1-2. The A-10 championship will begin with quarterfinals on Thursday, Nov. 13, in Richmond, Va. The No.2 Billikens will play No. 7 La Salle for their first match-up.   La Salle ended their season 7-8-3 with a conference record of 3-3-2.

A victory in this game will result in SLU playing on Friday, Nov. 14, against the winner of the No.3 VCU vs. No.6 Fordham game.

As of Nov. 12, a number of Billikens earned accolades from the conference at the conclusion of the season. Kristo was named A-10 Offensive Player of the Year, while Graydon was named the A-10 Midfielder of the Year. Manning was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row.

All three of those players were also named to the first-team All-Conference. Junior defender Tyler David was named to the second team, along with senior midfielder Raymond Lee. Senior midfielder Kingsley Bryce was named to the A-10 All-Academic team. Freshman keeper was named to the All-Rookie team for the A-10, along with redshirt freshman defender Max Karcher.

Billiken Media Relations

The No. 13 Saint Louis men’s soccer team traveled to Ohio on Saturday, Oct. 25 for a crucial A-10 matchup against the Dayton Flyers. The Billikens fell behind early in the 9th minute of the game when Flyer James Haupt beat SLU keeper Sascha Otte to put the Flyers up 1-0.

The Billikens responded shortly after  Raymond Lee scored his second goal of the season in the 13th minute. Filip Pavisic was credited with the assist as he connected with Lee in a congested penalty box. Both teams would be unable to take advantage of offensive opportunities and the score would remain 1-1 at the end of the first 45 minutes.

The score would hold as a draw until 76:13 when the Billikens would once again find themselves down a goal. Flyers midfielder Amass Amankona shot the ball into the upper right corner of the goal after receiving a pass from Brian Richards.

It seemed that the game would end in a 2-1 loss for the Billikens, but a penalty at the 87:06 mark would give SLU the opportunity to pull out a draw. Anthony Manning took the penalty shot and snuck the ball past Flyer’s keeper.

The cold weather on Sunday, Nov. 2 could not keep the Billikens from celebrating their final home game against Rhode Island and the honoring of the senior players and their families. Coach McGinty praised the senior men saying that he is “extremely proud of them…they have done an excellent job finishing the last two years undefeated at home and doing things well to put us into a really good position.” Coach McGinty smiled proudly as he took pictures with each of the seniors and their respective families.

There was anticipation building for this game due to Rhode Island coming off an 11 game win streak against some highly-ranked opponents including Dayton, who SLU tied with on Saturday, Oct. 25.  SLU (10-3-2) possessed the ball for most of the first half with eight shots on goal, but was unable to convert on any attempts. Fans held their breath at 12:48 when Billiken goalie Sascha Otte committed to an oncoming Ram who quickly passed the ball off to a teammate. This decision left the goal wide open, but due to the quick thinking of the defense to crash the goal, no damage was done.  Robert Kristo had the opportunity to put the Billikens up with 2:45 left in the first half, but his header passed the goal face. The frustration for the players was evident, not only due to their missed attempts, but because of the physicality of the game paired with the lack of calls on the official’s end. The half ended scoreless with many opportunities missed and Otte having only one save.

The second half began with much of the same physical competitiveness that was seen in the first 45 minutes. There were an astounding 13 fouls committed by the Rams–eight occurring in the second half.  The Billikens had six fouls in total. When asked to comment on the physicality of the game Coach McGinty stated, “It is coming down to that time of the year, both teams were battling. Rhode Island is a good team and at the top of the league for a reason, so you are going to get those games this time of year.”

Both teams exchanged scoring opportunities,  five shots on goal for the Billikens and three for the Rams, to no avail. Fans gathered their things to leave as the clock hit the 87th minute, when the ball went out of bounds and SLU was awarded a corner kick. There was not much anticipation, since SLU already had seven corner kicks for the game and was unable to convert any of them. The ball was sent into the box toward senior forward Kingsley Bryce. Bryce was able to settle the ball, but the goalie corralled the ball. It seemed like the play was over, but Bryce refused to give up and his perseverance resulted in the ball creeping over the goal line. Rhode Island was unable to recover in the final three minutes of the game, which ended in a 1-0 victory for the Billikens.

After the game, Bryce commented on the sense of relief he felt after scoring the goal as the team kept “plugging away at them a lot and kept getting a lot of corners and a lot of shots, but [the ball] wouldn’t go in. Finally, when it was in, I thought, ‘Thank God’”.

Both players and coach thought that the lack of goals with the amount of scoring opportunities did not indicate a problem in the offense, but rather a need to finish and be hungrier in the box. Bryce described how special the night was, especially after his goal, calling it a dream and stating that he believes that SLU is ready for the post season. The Billikens (11-3-2) will finish out their season at VCU, who has an overall record of 7-7-4, on Friday, Nov. 7.

VCU is coming off a victory after beating George Washington 2-0 on Sunday, Nov. 2. The Billikens hope to gain some momentum to carry over into the post season, but looked forward to enjoying their spectacular victory on a very special night.

The No. 13 Saint Louis men’s soccer team traveled to Ohio on Saturday, Oct. 25 for a crucial A-10 matchup against the Dayton Flyers. The Billikens fell behind early in the 9th minute of the game when Flyer James Haupt beat SLU keeper Sascha Otte to put the Flyers up 1-0.

The Billikens responded shortly after  Raymond Lee scored his second goal of the season in the 13th minute. Filip Pavisic was credited with the assist as he connected with Lee in a congested penalty box. Both teams would be unable to take advantage of offensive opportunities and the score would remain 1-1 at the end of the first 45 minutes.

The score would hold as a draw until 76:13 when the Billikens would once again find themselves down a goal. Flyers midfielder Amass Amankona shot the ball into the upper right corner of the goal after receiving a pass from Brian Richards.

It seemed that the game would end in a 2-1 loss for the Billikens, but a penalty at the 87:06 mark would give SLU the opportunity to pull out a draw. Anthony Manning took the penalty shot and snuck the ball past Flyer’s keeper Chris Froschauer for his fifth goal of the season; three coming off successfully converted penalty kicks.

Although the game would continue into overtime, neither the Billikens nor the Flyers could find the back of the net for the winning goal. In the 110th minute of play, SLU and Dayton both had 16 shots on goal with three corner kicks each. The goalkeeper for both teams also had three saves apiece, with all of Dayton’s saves coming in the second half.

The draw gives the Billikens a record of 10-3-2, with an A-10 record of 3-1-2. SLU coach Mike McGinty viewed the game as a success saying, “I’m extremely proud of our guys—they came back not once, but twice to get something out of this place, which is not easy to do. The team effort tonight was fantastic.” McGinty also commented how dominating Dayton has been this season at home, insinuating that a draw against this strong team should be viewed as a victory for SLU.

The Billikens will return home this Sunday, Nov. 2 to play Rhode Island at Hermann Stadium with a 2 p.m. kickoff. Rhode Island beat Dayton 1-0, and destroyed UMass 4-1 on Friday. This advanced their winning streak to 10 games.

On Sunday, Oct. 26 the Rams kicked off at Saint Joseph’s and defeated the Hawks with a score of 2-0, advancing their unbeaten streak to 11 games with a record of 10-3-3. Due to the recent success of the Rams, the Saint Louis men’s soccer game should prove to be an exciting matchup, even prior to the game. The six seniors for SLU will be recognized, as the match is their last one at home as Billikens.

Winners: Junior forward David Graydon looks up the field on Oct. 17 against Duquesne. The Bills won the game 1-0.
Javier Muro de Nadal / Staff Photographer

While the majority of campus spent its time studying for midterms, the men’s soccer team spent some time on the road continuing their Atlantic 10 schedule with stops in Davidson, N.C., and Fairfax, Va. SLU, ranked
eighth with an 8-2-0 record, began their journey in Davidson against the 5-1-2 Wildcats on Oct. 10.

Freshman Sascha Otte completed his seventh shutout on the season, with four saves in the game that went into double overtime, yet finished scoreless.

Senior Raymond Lee led the Billikens with five shots on goal, while junior David Graydon attempted four shots on goal with neither player finding the back of the net. This tie moved the Billikens to 8-2-1 as they continued on to Virginia to play the George Mason Patriots, who entered the match against SLU with a record of 7-2-3.

The Billikens spent their day of recovery making the trip to Fairfax to play a game that ended up being well fought on both sides. Saint Louis found itself behind 2-0 early, with back-to-back goals by the Patriots in the 30th and 47th minutes. The Billikens regrouped over halftime and came back with a vengeance, scoring two goals in the beginning of the second half.

One of these goals came in the 59th minute, when senior Anthony Manning took advantage of a penalty kick opportunity to make the score 2-1, giving him his second penalty kick goal this season. SLU’s second goal came from the scoring duo of Robert Kristo and Marco Heskamp, when Heskamp connected with Kristo to tie the game.

The Billikens seemed to have turned the tide against the Patriots until the 69th minute, when Filip Pavisic was issued a red card, forcing SLU to play the rest of the game with only 10 men on the field. The Billiken defense would hold until the 88th minute, when Taylor Washington scored the winning goal for the Patriots. Billikens returned home with an 8-3-1 record to play two more games against A-10 opponents, with only a day of rest in between.

SLU took on Duquesne (6-3-2) this past Friday at Hermann Stadium. Although the Billikens found themselves with multiple scoring opportunities, the Dukes defenders were able to clear the ball before any damage could be done. This resulted in a scoreless first half.

The Billikens would get a break at 51:54 when Kingsley Bryce was fouled and Graydon took the free kick. With a beautifully curved kick into the box, Kristo was able to head the ball past the Dukes keeper. Graydon’s assist tied the team’s highest at six and would give Kristo his 10th goal of the season.

Otte also had a commendable performance with his eighth shutout of the season. The Billikens outshot Duquesne 14-4 and advanced to 9-3-1  after the 1-0 win. This victory gave SLU momentum for its Sunday home game against UMass (1-10-1).

The Billikens ended the weekend against UMass and began their onslaught early in the first half, scoring three goals in the first 20 minutes of the game. These goals came from Manning (1:57), assisted by Hidalgo; David (16:53), assisted by Manning; and Bryce (18:26), who scored without any assistance.

Manning’s goal came off of a corner kick that allowed for a header into the back of the net. Tyler David was there to make the play, slamming the ball into the net for his second goal of the season. Bryce then scored his third goal of the season after sneaking the ball into the goal to put the Billikens up 3-0 at the half.

The second half began much like the first, with the Billikens crushing the Minutemen on offense. Hidalgo delivered a perfect strike after Kristo sent the ball across the box for him, in the 62nd minute, to send the Billikens up 4-0.

SLU would finish their scoring rampage in the 70th minute, when Max Karcher scored his first career goal off of a pass from Bryce. The Billikens dominated in shots on goal, 21-7, and Otte only had to make one save to successfully complete his ninth shutout. A crucial game for the Billikens, now 10-3-1, will take place this Saturday in Dayton, Ohio, as they will face the 6-4-3 Flyers.

Bryce and Kristo also made national soccer news this week. Announced Monday, Bryce has been named a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award which is given annually to an athlete who exhibits excellence in community, classroom, character and competition. Bryce is a team captain and is also the president of SLU’s Student Athlete Advisory committee and has earned honors five times for the A-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, awarded to students who complete a 3.5 GPA that semester.

Kristo is tied for first in the nation among active players in career scoring. He has 88 total points, comprised of 37 goals and 14 assists in his career as of press time.