SLU falls in A-10 final; SIUE wins OVC tournament for return trip to NCAAs

St. Louis University's men's soccer season likely ended Sunday with a loss in the Atlantic 10 Tournament final, while Southern Illinois Edwardsville will be in the NCAAs for the second season in a row.

SLU lost to Dayton 3-0 in the A-10 final, with SLU playing with 10 men after Carlos Leatherman got his second yellow card in the 35th minute. Dayton got all its goals after going up a man, scoring in the 43rd, 71st and 74th minutes.

The Billikens finished their season with a record of 8-4-8. SLU went into the final with an RPI of 35, but with just a 48-team field for the men's tournament, that likely won't get them in unless everything breaks just right for them, though several one-bid leagues helped as their best teams secured their automatic berths.

SIUE beat Houston Christian 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night to win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and secure its spot. Wes Gibson scored on a header off a corner kick in the 104th minute to win it. SIUE had taken a 1-0 lead but trailed 2-1 before Pavel Dashin scored in the 83rd minute to send the game to overtime.

This is the first time since 2005 and 2006 that SIUE has reached the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons.

Missouri State lost in the Missouri Valley Conference semifinals but is 11th in the NCAA RPI and will likely get an at-large berth.

The pairings for the tournament will be announced at noon Monday on NCAA.com .

SLU women will play USC

SLU's women's soccer team will face Southern California in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Carson, California. USC (16-1-3), one of the No. 1 seeds in the tournament, defeated Sacramento State 5-0 on Sunday. USC is ranked fifth nationally and is unbeaten in its past 14 home games.

The winner of that game will play either No. 4 seed Virginia or No. 5 Wisconsin in the third round on Sunday at the same site.

Soccer reporter