Team beats No. 5 Saint Louis

A pair of Ned Grabavoy goals pushed the Hoosiers past their biggest test of the season by defeating No. 5 Saint Louis 2-1, extending their longest winning streak of the season to six while remaining unbeaten in their last eight matches. \nThe Hoosiers (8-3-4, 4-0-1 Big Ten) have now outscored their opponents 14-2 in their last six games and are unbeaten in their last 20 home games. The Billikens drop to 9-3-2 on the season and losers of their last two.\n"We needed to win against a top team," IU coach Jerry Yeagley said. "When we couldn't get the second goal and they came back and got their goal I was worried that our youth would show. It was a back and forth game between two very great teams and this was a win we needed. This was a very important win."\nThe Hoosiers broke the scoreless first half with 15:33 left when sophomore Jordan Chirico found a sliding Grabavoy in the box, chipping it to the back left side of the net. The assist was Chirico's first of the season while Grabavoy recorded his ninth goal. The half would end with IU up 1-0, having outshot St. Louis 6-2.\nEven with Billiken freshman sensation William John starting the second half on the bench and leading goal scorer freshman Vedad Ibisevic on the bench with a leg injury, the Billikens hung tough and would eventually break the tie with just over 23 minutes left on a goal from Ryan Wileman. \n"I credit St. Louis after we owned them the first half," Yeagley said. "Their coach checked some of these young guys. I give them credit. I think they had the better of us the first 25 minutes but then we woke up and started playing again."\nAn announced crowd of 2,119 saw the Hoosiers opportunities fading away, but with just over four minutes remaining, senior Vijay Dias played the ball across to sophomore Brian Plotkin, who quickly chipped it into the box where once again Grabavoy was on the spot to slide it past the goalkeeper for the game-winning score.\nThe goal was Grabavoy's team-leading 10th of the year while Plotkin and Dias recorded their fifth and first assist respectively.\n"On both of the goals it was more of a reaction," Grabavoy said. "Jordan had the ball on the first one and I knew he would shoot it, so basically I thought the goalie would make a save, but the goalie miss-hits it and I'm there to sprint forward and get it. It was a very big win for us." \nAfter stumbling out of the gate 2-3-4, the Hoosiers are unbeaten in seven October games with one remaining on Wednesday at Louisville. \n"As far as our ranking and demeanor going into a Big Ten tourney, these last three games are huge," Dias said. "Beating them (St. Louis) is great going into the final few games. Once it was 1-1, we knew we had to get the game winner. We knew we had to push it the extra little bit to get the game winner."\n-- Contact staff writer Daniel Cohen at djcohen@indiana.edu.