Saint Louis men beat Goerge Washington

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Saint Louis sophomore midfielder Devon Newport  (Springfield, Mo./Glendale) netted his first career goal as the Billikens ousted host George Washington 1-0 Sunday in Atlantic 10 Conference men’s soccer action at Mount Vernon Field.

The Billikens improve to 4-5-2 overall and 2-2-0 in A-10. Next week, they travel to No. 23 Charlotte for a key Friday night A-10 matchup. Game time is set for 6 p.m. (CT). George Washington falls to 2-10-0 and 0-3-0 in the league.

Newport put the Billikens on the board at 16:45. Sophomore Alex Sweetin played a ball into the box that Newport managed to bury past George Washington keeper Brendan Lafferty. It was Newport’s first career tally and Sweetin’s team-leading third assist.

“We had a lot to play for today,” SLU head coach Mike McGinty said. “The guys responded well after a disappointing loss Friday night. On the goal, Alex did a great job getting on the end of a ball and squared it across to Devin, who didn’t quit on the play. As the game went on we had several chances to put the game away but we were unable to. The guys did a good job managing the rest of the match and we got a good result.”

Sophomore Mark Pais made his second start of the season in goal and made a pair of saves. The Billiken defense, which fought off 11 shots and four GW corner kicks, also cleared a ball off the line to preserve the shutout.