St. Louis - Saint Louis senior defender Joe Hammes scored twice to send the 25th-ranked Billikens past UAB 3-0 tonight in a Conference USA men's soccer match before 3,655 at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. Sophomore goalkeeper Martin Hutton recorded his first career shutout as the Bills handed the C-USA preseason favorites a loss in their league opener.
Saint Louis asserted control early and jumped on top at 12:39 on senior midfielder Nick Walls' second goal of the year. After UAB keeper Clint Baumstark leaped to deny freshman forward Cooper McKee from 12 yards, Walls slammed the rebound past the right post from 18 yards.
"We wanted to start strong, because we lost the game at UAB last year on a goal in the opening minute," head coach Dan Donigan said. "So we came out strong and hard, and it was great to have such a solid effort against as good a team as UAB."
Baumstark was outstanding throughout the first half. He made terrific saves on Jason Cole's 12-yd header in the eighth minute, denied midfielder Mike Kirchhoff's eight-yard volley through traffic in a scramble in the 21st minute and came off his line to smother McKee's bid on a two-on-one with Cole in the 30th minute.
Good fortune smiled on the Bills at 41:07 as SLU made it 2-0 on Hammes' first goal. Hammes jumped on a UAB clearance and drilled it back into the Blazers' penalty area from 25 yards. The shot deflected off a Blazer defender, popped into the air and looped over Baumstark. The Bills out-shot the Blazers 11-2 in the first half.
The Blazers attempted to move more attackers forward in the second half but still had difficulty generating solid chances against the Billiken defense. Hammes ended any suspense with only his third career goal in the 76th minute. Midfielder Jack Jewsbury's initial shot struck a UAB defender and bounced back to Hammes, who drilled a 16-yard shot inside the right post.
"We wanted Joe to take a defensive role in this game because UAB is so dangerous up top, but he put himself in good position and things just fell into place for him," Donigan said. "The first goal was a solid strike but a little lucky, and the second was just a nice finish."
The Billikens out-shot the Blazers (3-3-1 overall, 0-1-0 C-USA) 15-4 and had a 5-4 edge on corners. Hutton made two saves for the shutout, while Baumstark finished with six saves and his defense cleared another shot away.
The Billikens (3-2-1 overall, 1-1-0 C-USA) return to C-USA action against Charlotte on Wed., Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. at Hermann Stadium.
#25 SAINT LOUIS 3, UAB 0
SLU 12:39 Cooper McKee
SLU 41:07 Joe Hammes 25 yds deflects off defender
SLU 75:53 Hammes 18 yds from Jack Jewsbury
Shots: SLU - 15 , UAB - 4 Corners: SLU-5 , UAB - 4 Saves: SLU - 2 (Hutton), UAB - 7 (Baumstark-6, Team-1) Fouls: SLU-19, UAB - 19 Att: 3,655
