Members of the SLU men’s soccer team swarm CJ Coppola, after his second-half goal gave the Billikens the lead in Saturday night’s match against Fordham. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
| NCAA Soccer – Sept. 23, 2023 | 1 | 2 | Final |
| Fordham (4-1-3, 1-1-0) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| SLU (3-3-1, 1-0-1) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Scoring Summary
| Time | Team | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 19:02 |  | Christian Buendia (1) PENALTY KICK GOAL. |
| 57:54 |  | Daniel D’Ippolito (3) Assisted By: Adrian Valentine. |
| 75:00 | | CJ Coppola (4) Assisted By: Carlos Leatherman. |
Jason Barnes
Staff Writer
ST. LOUIS, MO — Saint Louis University sophomore CJ Coppola scored the game-winning goal for the second time in as many games, and third time this season, as Saint Louis defeated Fordham University, 2-1, in an Atlantic 10 Conference men’s soccer match, Saturday night at Hermann Stadium.
The Billikens improve to 3-3-1 overall and 1-0-1 in A-10 play. Fordham suffered its first loss of the season and dips to 4-1-3 and 1-1 in league play.
A capacity crowd of 6,457 attended the game, the second-largest attendance in Hermann Stadium history. That is also the largest on-campus crowd of the season in the NCAA this year and the second-highest attended game overall, trailing only the 8,000+ who witnessed the SLU-SIUE match at CITYPARK earlier this season.
The Billikens got on the board first in the 20th minute when Christian Buendia buried a penalty kick for his first goal of the year.
Fordham scored the equalizer in the 58th minute when Daniel D’Ippolito headed home an Adrian Valentine service.
Coppola’s game winner came in the 76th minute. He accepted a pass from Carlos Leatherman and calmly created a chance and buried it past the Fordham keeper for the game-winning score. It was Coppola’s team-leading fourth strike of the season and Leatherman’s first collegiate point.
Fordham played the final 25 minutes of the game a man down after Louis Lehr received a red card.
SLU outshot Fordham 14-10, with 10 the Billiken shots being on goal against just seven for the visiting Rams.
After going winless in four straight matches, Saint Louis has now won two in a row, and will look for No. 3 when the club returns to action Wednesday night, with a home match against cross-state rival, Missouri State. The match that evening at Hermann Stadium is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m.
2023 Saint Louis Billikens Upcoming Men’s Soccer Schedule
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 27, 2023 | 7 pm | Home | Missouri State | Hermann Stadium |
| September 30, 2023 | 7 pm | Home | Rhode Island | Hermann Stadium |
| October 4, 2023 | 2 pm | Away | George Washington | Washington, D.C |
| October 7, 2023 | 7 pm | Home | La Salle | Hermann Stadium |
| October 10, 2023 | 7 pm | Home | Central Arkansas | Hermann Stadium |
| October 14, 2023 | 3 pm | Away | Loyola Chicago | Chicago, Ill. |
| October 21, 2023 | 7 pm | Home | Dayton | Hermann Stadium |
| October 24, 2023 | 7 pm | Home | Blackburn | Hermann Stadium |
| October 28, 2023 | 6 pm | Away | Saint Joseph’s | Philadelphia, Pa. |