Charlottesville, Va. - Saint Louis freshman midfielder Will John scored in the first half to lift the Billikens to a 1-0 triumph over Akron today in the opening round of Virginia's adidas Classic at Klockner Stadium. Billiken junior goalkeeper Martin Hutton posted the shutout in the season opener for both teams.

"We did some good things today against a big, strong, talented, mature Akron team," head coach Dan Donigan said. "We stuck to our game plan throughout and knocked it around pretty well."

John put the Billikens on the board in the 31st minute with a 25-yard strike off a re-start. The Kansas City native bent a drive over the Zips' wall into the upper corner of the near post.

Hutton made three saves to post his initial shutout of the season. The Billikens out-shot the Zips 21-10, but Akron had a 9-7 edge on corner kicks.

The Billikens challenge No. 14 Virginia on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (CT).

SAINT LOUIS 1, AKRON 0 
 SLU  80:54  Will John 25 yds unassisted

Shots: SLU - 21, UA - 10 Corners: SLU - 7, UA - 9 Saves: SLU -3 (Hutton), UA - 7 Fouls: SLU - 18, UA - 17