CHICAGO (September 29, 2022) – In what should be an exciting Atlantic 10 matchup, the Loyola University Chicago men's soccer team will take on Saint Louis this Saturday in yet another tough road test for the Ramblers. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at SLU's Hermann Stadium and the contest will stream live on ESPN Plus.
 
Loyola (5-1-2, 1-1-0) is searching for its first road win of the season, while Saint Louis (4-3-1, 1-0-1) looks to extend its home unbeaten streak in A-10 regular-season play to 11 games.
 
Last Time Out
Loyola claimed its first A-10 win by defeating George Washington 4-0 last Saturday. It was a convincing result for the Ramblers, who bounced back from a one-goal defeat at Duquesne by logging their fifth straight home victory. Redshirt senior midfielder Billy Hency opened the scoring with a header goal in the ninth minute, while sophomore forward John Gates, graduate student forward Fabian Becerra and senior forward Alex Moskal each found the back of the net. Junior defender Julian Cisneros registered a career-best two assists to help lead the attack, while a total of 21 different Loyola players saw the field. Loyola outshot its opponent for the seventh time in eight games this season, including the second-most total shots (20) and tying the team's season-high mark for shots on goal (10). It was the fifth clean sheet of the season for the Ramblers, as graduate student goalkeeper Simon Jillson improved to 5-1-2 in goal and made two saves on the day.
 
Glance at Saint Louis
The Billikens haven't lost in four consecutive outings after defeating Marquette 2-1 on Tuesday night. Senior forward John Klein, who leads Saint Louis with five goals this season, scored twice in the second half to lead the way. After starting the year 1-3 against quality competition, Saint Louis has gone 3-0-1 while outscoring opponents 9-3 over the previous four matches. The Billikens opened conference play with a 3-1 road victory over La Salle and followed that up with a scoreless draw against VCU at home last Saturday. The Billikens are led by fifth-year head coach Kevin Kalish, who was named the 2021 A-10 Coach of the Year. The 2021 Billikens won the A-10 Championships and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, which led to a preseason national poll ranking of 10th.
 
Series Stuff
Loyola and Saint Louis will meet for the eighth time on Saturday, which marks the first meeting as A-10 conference rivals. The all-time series lead belongs to Saint Louis with the most recent matchup played on Sept. 12, 2009, resulting in a 3-1 neutral-site win for the Billikens at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. The lone win for the Ramblers in the series occurred in the 1996 season, a 2-1 road victory. The two teams have met twice before as league rivals when each was a member of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (MCC).
 
Region Rankings
Loyola is slotted seventh in this week's United Soccer Coaches Southeast Region Top 10 Poll while Saint Louis is currently not ranked. The Ramblers were previously ranked fifth, ninth and 10th in the first three polls of the season, respectively. The Billikens have appeared in three of the five region poll releases this season.
 
Up Next
Loyola will have a quick turnaround next week with a road match at VCU on Wednesday, Oct. 5, before returning home to host Dayton on Saturday, Oct. 8.