Stephanie Platt of The Current

Riverman midfielder Drew Wilson (4) defends against a Quincy attacker in last Sunday's Great Lakes Valley Conference battle. The Rivermen lost the game 1-0, dropping UM-St. Louis' GLVC record to 1-3.

by Nick Bowman
special to The Current

The Rivermen looked to improve their conference record in contests against Southern Indiana (4-2-1, 1-2) and conference rival Quincy (3-4-2, 2-1-1) , but could only muster one goal over the two game span.

"We need to capitalize on our scoring opportunities if we are going to compete in the Great Lakes Valley Conference," senior midfielder Bobby Carter said. "It is a very open conference this year and if we can create more turnovers, we can win."

The first match, against Southern Indiana, featured a superb defensive showing, led by sophomore goalkeeper Adam Barnstead, who started in place of Kevin McCarthy, who was pulled out due to a hip injury that has recently bothered him.

The defenses for both teams played with an extremely high intensity level, and in the 27th minute things got a little too high as senior midfielder Ryan Inkley of UM-St. Louis and defenseman Brian Peroutka of Southern Indiana got into a fight in the 27th minute, which resulted in red cards being drawn on both players.

The 10-on-10 soccer that resulted was very beneficial for UM-St. Louis, as the Rivermen outshot Southern Indiana 8 -1 in the second half.

The only goal of the game came in the 88th minute on a beautiful 20-yard left-footer from dead center by freshman Ryan Smith, with an assist recorded to Justin Clanton.

"That second half was ours," Redmond said. "We dominated the offensive side of the ball. (But) we really need to capitalize on our scoring opportunities."

The Rivermen won the contest 1-0.

The second match, against conference rival Quincy, was a very competitive and very defensive-minded game.

McCarthy was back in the nets for this contest, and it showed as the whole team settled in for a great defensive effort, allowing only six shots on goal. But again, the Rivermen failed to capitalize on any of their eight shots on goal, as they were shut out for the fourth time this season 1-0.

Matt Mader of Quincy scored the only goal of the game, on an assist from Matt Vollink in the 60th minute.

"When a team starts lacking in the scoring department, a coach first wonders if his team is creating good scoring chances," Redmond said. "(Our) team is creating them, we just don't seem to be in any sort of groove. (Jeff) Stegman seemed to be earlier in the season, but nobody has picked up his momentum, and that shows as we have only scored two goals in the last five games."

The Rivermen's conference record stands at 1-3, but the record does not show the mentality of the team.

"We still have the entire second half of the season to go, and (we) still have a lot of room for improvement before the end," Redmond said. "Our main focus at this point is finishing plays. We need to get downfield a lot quicker than we have been, keep the opposing defenses from regrouping on us, and stay forward. We have a very potent offense, they just need to capitalize on their opportunities."