ST. LOUIS, Mo. (November 13, 2022)
 
In Short
No. 4 seed Loyola University Chicago (9-2-7) played to a scoreless draw at No. 1 seed Saint Louis (11-4-3) in the Atlantic 10 Championship match, before falling 3-2 in penalty kicks against the 20th-ranked Billikens Sunday at Hermann Stadium. Loyola didn't allow a goal in three tournament contests (290 minutes), finishing runner-up in the program's first season as an A-10 member.
 
Lukas Ender, Simon Jillson, Andrew Mitchell and Marc Torrellas were named to the A-10 All-Championship Team.
 
How It Happened
Loyola nearly struck in the opening moments when a corner kick was flicked on by Marc Torrellas in the third minute, but Saint Louis was able to clear the ball off the end line.
 
The Ramblers built up pressure during the opening 10 minutes of play, with clean passing and free running lanes, as Bryan Silver took the first recorded shot of the match which was blocked by a defender. Saint Louis was able to counter and found an open shot from close range that sailed over the bar, but the play was whistled for a foul on the Billikens.
 
Loyola had two more opportune moments in the opening half, including a run by John Gates through the left side of the penalty area, where he tried to slot a pass to Oscar Dueso but the Billikens cleared it away. A set piece in the 36th minute led to a pair of back-to-back corner kicks for the Ramblers, but nothing to show for it. Loyola held a 3-1 edge in corner kicks at halftime with the score level at 0-0.
 
Then, the second half of regulation saw many more scoring chances on both sides. Loyola goalkeeper Simon Jillson was tested in the 57th minute with a short-range liner that he stopped with ease. Two minutes later, Loyola got its best look of the day on goal when Torrellas worked free at the top of the box and launched a screamer to the upper 90 but missed just wide.
 
Five minutes into the first overtime period, Fabian Becerra played a perfect throughball from midfield to Dueso, who found time and space in the box, but misfired on a shot attempt wide to the left. Torrellas also had a dangerous look in the box, but the shot attempt was blocked. In the second overtime, a highlight defensive play was made by Andrew Schweinert, who was composed and confident on a sliding tackle near the bottom left corner of the goal.
 
Saint Louis' goalkeeper Carlos Tofern made three stops in the penalty kick shootout for the second straight match. He also made three stops in the semifinal win over Dayton. Hency and Quinten Blair converted the pair of successful PK attempts for the Ramblers.

The Billikens claimed their second straight A-10 championship, with Tofern named the Most Outstanding Player.
 
Inside The Numbers

• Loyola made its fourth conference final appearance in five seasons
• Loyola recorded its eighth clean sheet of the season
• Loyola didn't surrender a goal the entire tournament (290 minutes) – its longest stretch since the first three games of the season
• Jillson registered three saves between the posts for Loyola
• Shots were even on both sides after 110 minutes (6-6)
• The Ramblers held a 4-2 edge in corner kicks
• Saint Louis was called for 20 fouls and Loyola was whistled for 17
• Six Ramblers played all 110 minutes (Jillson, Mitchell, Ender, Hency, Silver, Torrellas)

Up Next
Saint Louis captured the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Loyola will wait to see if its name gets called during the 2022 DI men's soccer selection show, which is Monday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. ET on NCAA.com. The 2022 championship field will consist of 48 teams with the tournament running from Nov. 17 through Dec. 12. The College Cup, consisting of the national semifinals and finals will be held in Cary, North Carolina.