St. Louis - Conference USA Player of the Year Jason Cole netted the winner as Saint Louis held off Cincinnati 3-2 this afternoon in the Conference USA postseason tournament championship match before 1,246 fans at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. Saint Louis won its third consecutive C-USA postseason tourney title.

"It was a nerve-wracking game, but we got the breaks at the end and we got goals when we had to," head coach Dan Donigan said. "Cincinnati played out of its mind, but we survived the experience, and we'll be better for it in the NCAA Tournament."

Saint Louis enjoyed a major territorial advantage in the early going and jumped on top at 4:25. C-USA assist leader Kevin Wickart struck a corner, and senior midfielder Joe Hammes sailed through the Bearcats' defense to connect on a six-yard header. Saint Louis carried the 1-0 advantage to the half.

"We all make our runs on those set pieces and corners," Hammes said. "With the way Kevin strikes it, we know it's coming to one of us. This time it happened to be me."

Cincinnati carried the attack in the early stages of the second half and tied the match on Wiremu Patrick's penalty kick at 47:56. In a nifty sequence of passing in the Billiken penalty area, UC's Tim Brown was tripped by SLU defender Nick Gannon. Patrick took the PK and beat SLU keeper Martin Hutton to the lower left corner.

"That penalty kick changed the game," Donigan said. "We knew they were going to come after us, but we made a mistake. We did have some defensive problems this afternoon, but nothing that's a long term problem."

The Billikens wasted little time in responding. UC keeper John Adams stoned Cole in the 53rd minute. The Bills reclaimed the lead on senior midfielder Mike Kirchhoff's goal at 55:22. After some nice work down the right flank by senior midfielder Nick Walls to create the opportunity, Walls sent a ball across the top of the UC penalty area. SLU midfielder Jack Jewsbury deftly touched the pass to his left where Kirchhoff ran on to it and drilled an 18-yard shot back to the right post.

The Bearcats refused to die and tied it again at 68:46 on midfielder Josh Gardner's four-yard one-touch. UC defender Justin Dobbs beat three Billikens to the end line and sent a centering pass that found Gardner unmarked in the SLU goalbox.

"Those Cincinnati goals were eye-openers for us," Cole said. "We knew it was their third game in four days, but the more they stayed in the game the more they'd believe they're in the game. When they scored, we just had to come strong."

Saint Louis answered again at 76:37 as Cole utilized his supreme hang time to send a two-yard header to the back of the net. Kirchhoff sent Walls on another run up the right side with Walls eventually serving a ball to the left post. Cole seemed suspended in midair as the UC defender came back to earth and Cole connected on the header.

"I yelled back post to Nick, and he got it there," Cole said. "I jumped too early, but I managed to stay with it."

"That was a difficult finish," Donigan said. "He was at a hard angle, and he went up too soon. Just a tremendous goal."

The Billikens had to survive a furious Bearcats' finish as UC kept sending players forward. In one precarious sequence in the 86th minute, Billiken keeper Martin Hutton made back-to-back stops on UC's Scott Lyons and Patrick. 'Cats midfielder Preston Talbert had one rebound attempt cleared by SLU's defense and his next shot rang off the cross bar. Talbert again was just wide of the right post in the 87th minute.

Meanwhile, Saint Louis was unable to convert a 3-on-1 and a 2-on-1 that would have cemented the outcome.

The Bearcats out-shot the Bills 11-10 and were the first team to accomplish that in 16 games. Each keeper made four saves and had his defense clear a ball of its own line. SLU had a 7-3 advantage in corners.

The Billikens are 14-3-2 and await their seeding in the NCAA Tournament bracket Monday afternoon. Cincinnati finished 11-8-2 overall after a thrilling run of upsets to the championship match.

SAINT LOUIS 3,  CINCINNATI 2
 SLU    4:25   Kevin Wickart corner
 UC   47:56  Wiremu Patrick pk
 SLU   55:28  Mike Kirchhoff's 18 yds from Nick Walls
 UC   68:46  Josh Gardner 4 yds from Justin Dobbs
 SLU   76:37  Jason Cole 2-yd header from Walls, Kirchhoff

Shots: SLU - 10, UC - 11 Corners: SLU - 7, UC - 3 Saves: SLU - 5 (Hutton-4, Team-1), UC - (Adams-4 Team-1) Fouls: SLU - 18, UC - 25 Att: 1,246