St. Louis - Louisville blanked third-ranked Saint Louis 2-0 tonight in a Conference USA men's soccer match before 4,241 at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. The loss snapped the Billikens' 30-game home unbeaten streak and was the Cardinals' first victory over the Billikens in St. Louis.

"We felt as if our chances were there, but we just didn't finish off the sequences," head coach Dan Donigan said. "There's games like this every year, and we just have to bounce back against Marquette on Wednesday. We're a young, developing team, and this was another part of the growth process - a hard part, no doubt - but something we had to go through at some point."

In a scoreless first half, the possession time was nearly even, but Louisville held a 9-4 edge in shots and a 3-0 advantage on corner kicks. Cardinals senior forward Simon Bird was dangerous throughout and had a game high five shots in the opening half. SLU keeper Martin Hutton made four saves, but wasn't severely tested.

Saint Louis had two outstanding opportunities in the last five minutes of the half when UofL keeper Brad Sokolowski had to stop Billiken forward Vedad Ibisevic in the 42nd minute on a break-in. Moments later, Ibisevic and Ryan Wileman had a two-on-one, but Cards defender Matt Neely broke it up.

Bird broke the deadlock in the 61st minute with a 35-yard blast that eluded SLU keeper Martin Hutton and sailed under the cross bar. "That ball appeared to change direction along the way, so we thought it got deflected," Donigan said.

With UofL content to defend and counter when the opportunity arose, Saint Louis heightened its attack. SLU freshman midfielder Will John was just wide in the 68th minute in a two-on-two opportunity. Midfielder John DiRaimondo had a couple chances but was wide in the in the 82nd minute and high in the 84th.

It just seemed as if we were a step off or a second off on everything all night long," SLU defender Kevin Wickart said. "Things just didn't click tonight, and we'll be alright."

Cardinals freshman Jonathon Williams put the game away with a pretty goal at 86:44. Williams eluded one Billiken defender along the right end line and beat Hutton to the far post from five yards.

Saint Louis nearly got on the board in the 88th minute when Cards defender Clay Talley cleared Ibisevic's back heel attempt off the UofL line at the right post.

Louisville (6-3-0, 2-0-0) out-shot the Billikens 16-10 and had a 4-1 edge on corners. Sokolowski made two stops, and his defense cleared two balls. Hutton made seven saves for the Bills. The Billikens had not lost at Hermann Stadium since a 2-0 defeat to Charlotte during the 2000 season.

Saint Louis (6-1-1 overall, 1-1-0 C-USA) continues Conference USA action on Wed., Oct. 1, when Marquette visits Hermann Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

LOUISVILLE  2, #3 SAINT LOUIS 0 
 UL  60:56  Simon Bird 35 yds unassisted
 UL  86:44 Jonathon Williams 5 yds unassisted

Shots: SLU - 10, UL - 16 Corners: SLU - 1, UL - 4 Saves: SLU - 7 (Hutton), UL - 4 (Sokolowski - 2, Team-2) Fouls: SLU - 6, UL - 15 Att: 4,241