Memphis - Sixth-ranked Saint Louis routed No. 24 UAB 5-1 in the semifinals of the Conference USA men's soccer postseason tournament at Mike Rose Soccer Complex. C-USA Freshman of the Year Vedad Ibisevic scored a tournament record four goals in the first half to spark the Billikens.

"It's always good to come out quickly when a team has played the night before, and Vedad took care of that," Billikens head coach Dan Donigan said. "We also knew that they were a little short-handed, so getting on top of them early was huge."

Ibisevic made his presence felt quickly as he nearly scored on a breakaway in the second minute, but Blazers keeper Jeremy Drake slid out to deny him. Ibisevic found the back of the net in the seventh minute on a superlative individual effort along the touch line. At the left of the UAB goal, Ibisevic split two defenders and sent a tough angle shot to the right post from eight yards.

Ibisevic made it a two-goal margin in the 18th minute with determined second effort. After UAB's Blake stopped two of his shots, the Billikens' leading scorer pounced on another rebound in the goalmouth and pounded it into the upper netting. Ibisevic connected on his third strike in the 27th minute, putting on a 20-yard dribbling exhibition as he changed directions twice while heading to the net. He beat Blake from the penalty spot to the right post.

Ibisevic continued his personal scoring rampage in the 38th minute on a counter attack. Flying down the left flank, sophomore midfielder Ryan Wileman sent a cross to the far post. Ibisevic connected on a five-yard header.

UAB got on the board after a Billiken defensive misplay in the 60th minute. Blazers midfielder Nnambi Ngwe barreled into SLU keeper Martin Hutton and two Billiken defenders at the goalmouth and knocked it in with his body.

The game got physical shortly thereafter, and UAB midfielder Mikey Spitzer was ejected in the 65th minute in an altercation with SLU forward Will John, who had to leave the game. UAB already was playing without defender Kareem Morgan, who was ejected in the quarterfinals the night before, and midfielders Jose Rayo and Jerson Monteiro both of whom were injured the night before.

John returned to the match to close the scoring in the 83rd minute with Ibisevic picking up an assist.

Ibisevic also set a tournament record with nine total points. The last time a Billiken scored four goals in a game, Dipsy Selolwane turned the trick against South Florida during the 2001 season. The Bills set a tournament record for goals in a single game, and the teams combined for a single-game record six goals.

The Billikens out-shot UAB (10-5-5, 4-3-2) 16-14, but the Blazers had a 3-1 edge on corner kicks. SLU's Hutton made five saves, while UAB's Drake made four stops.

Saint Louis (13-3-2 overall, 6-2-1 C-USA) meets Charlotte in the championship game at 1 p.m. on Sunday. In the first semifinal, the fourth-seeded 49ers upset top-seeded Cincinnati 1-0.

#6 SAINT LOUIS 5, #24 UAB 1
SLU  6:58 Vedad Ibisevic 8 yds unassisted
SLU  17:21  Ibisevic rebound unassisted
SLU  26:25  Ibisevic 15 yds unassisted
SLU  37:46  Ibisevic 5-yd header from Ryan Wileman
UAB  59:54  Nnambi Ngwe tap-in
SLU  82:36  Will John from Ibisevic

Shots: SLU - 16, UAB - 14 Corners: SLU - 1, UAB - 3 Saves: SLU - 5 (Hutton-4, Team-1), UAB - 5 (Drake) Fouls: SLU - 25, UAB - 14