Score: Saint Louis 2, VCU 0
Location: Richmond, Va. / Sports Backers Stadium
Records: VCU (4-5-4, 1-2-2), Saint Louis (7-2-4, 4-0-1)
 
THE SHORT STORY
VCU men's soccer was unable to follow its Wednesday victory over nationally-ranked No. 25 George Mason with another win, overcome by a pair of early goals by Saint Louis, who is receiving votes in the most recent United Soccer Coaches top 25 poll. The Rams fell to the Billikens 2-0 on Saturday night.
 
PITCH SIDE

• Trevor Maloney made four saves between the posts for the Rams
• Five different Rams recorded shots; Theo Drennan, Moussa Ndiaye, Andres Rodriguez, Andrey Salmeron and Sulaiman Abdul-Mateen
• SLU outshot VCU 13-5
• Saint Louis remained undefeated in conference play and secured its eighth shutout of the season

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Billikens opened the scoring in the 26^th minute and added a second tally in the 29^th minute for a two-goal lead heading into the half
• The Rams didn't go down without a fight, finding three shots in the final nine minutes, including Abdul-Mateen's off the crossbar in the 84^th minute
• Saint Louis secured the 2-0 win

 
QUOTABLE
"Tonight was a really challenging test for us. Saint Louis pressed very well and it took us making some shape adjustments at the half to solve the press a bit better after really struggling to get out in the first half. We had a hole to climb out of that was too big of an ask based on the gas we had left in the tank after Wednesday night's game. On a positive note, we did solve the problems much better and although Saint Louis was always dangerous looking in transition, we did enough in the second half to feel like we could have gotten back in the game. As I told the guys at halftime, if we could get the first goal in the second half, I thought we would find a way to win, but unfortunately although we had some chances, the goal never came.
 
Now we have three open midweeks down the stretch to prepare for weekend games to continue to make improvements and be able to hopefully enter the games with a bit more energy. First up, is a tough Loyola squad in Chicago on Saturday," Head Coach Dave Giffard said.
 
UP NEXT
VCU will take on the Ramblers in Chicago on Saturday, October 18 to kick off a two-game road trip. The Rams will continue to Kingston, Rhode Island, on October 25 before concluding the regular season at home against Davidson on November 1.