St. Louis - Fourth-ranked Saint Louis remained undefeated with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over 15th-ranked Florida International tonight before 2,923 at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. Junior goalkeeper Martin Hutton posted the shutout as the Bills won their fourth straight game over a ranked team.

Freshman forward Vedad Ibisevic put the Billikens on top 1-0 at the 7:02 mark with a dazzling dribbling display. John DiRaimondo settled the ball in the middle of the field and pushed the ball over to Ibisevic on the right wing. Ibisevic juked past an FIU defender and chipped Golden Panthers keeper Roy Rosenberg from eight yards away.

FIU's Lucas Scudeler narrowly missed tying the game two minutes later. He launched a shot from 25 yards that bounced off the right goalpost. Hutton stretched to his right to deflect a Scudeler shot from just inside the penalty area. FIU enjoyed an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks in the first half, but managed the same number of shots as the Billikens with six.

Early in the second half, Billiken freshman midfielder Casey Spiess had a chance to put SLU up 2-0 but rocketed a corner kick from DiRaimondo just over the top of the net. With just over 28 minutes to play, the Golden Panthers had an excellent scoring chance cleared off the line by SLU defender Kevin Wickart with a header. One minute later, the Billikens again had an opportunity to take a two-goal lead. Off a set piece, DiRaimondo lofted a ball to the center of the penalty box, but Ibisevic's header was pushed just to the right of the goal.

FIU made a desperate push late in the contest in search of the equalizer. In the 86th minute, FIU's Carron Williams put a shot on goal from a steep angle that went through Hutton and rolled all the way across the face of the Billiken net. Williams again tested Hutton a minute later, but the SLU keeper denied the Golden Panthers to preserve the shutout.

Florida International (3-2-0) enjoyed a huge advantage in corner kicks, 17-6, but the Billikens out-shot the Golden Panthers 12-11. Hutton made six saves on the evening, while FIU's Rosenberg made five. Each team cleared a ball off its own line.

Saint Louis (5-0-0) opens its Conference USA schedule by traveling to Charlotte on Sat., Sept. 20.

#4 SAINT LOUIS 1,  #15 FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL  0 
 SLU  7:02  Vedad Ibisevic 8 yds from John DiRaimondo

Shots: SLU - 12, FIU - 11 Corners: SLU - 6, FIU - 17 Saves: SLU - 7 (Hutton - 6, Team - 1), FIU - 7 (Rosenberg - 5, Team-2) Fouls: SLU - 13, FIU - 12 Att: 2,923