St. Louis - Cincinnati stunned No, 21 Saint Louis 1-0 tonight in a Conference USA men's soccer match before 764 fans at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. The Bearcats beat their second straight top 25 team and stretched their unbeaten streak to five, while snapping the Billikens' season-best winning streak at three.

Three outstanding Bearcats defensive plays kept the Bills off the scoreboard in the first half. UC keeper Mike Vessells made a diving save at the right post on SLU midfielder Casey Spiess' 18-yard drive in the 13th minute. In the 26th minute, 'Cats defender Jeff Hughes headed SLU forward Will John's eight-yard blast off the UC line. Hughes' defensive partner Eddie Parkes knocked SLU midfielder Danny Wynn's 15-yard drive off the UC line in the 37th minute. The Bills had yet another glorious opportunity in the 34th minute when John hammered an eight-yard shot over the cross bar off Alex Matteson's rebound. The Bills out-shot the Bearcats 7-4 in the first half and had a 5-0 edge in corner kicks.

SLU junior midfielder Danny Wynn's 40-yard shot over the cross bar.

Then UC took advantage of its first chance in the second half as senior midfielder Jeremiah Gallegos sent a 15-yard header to the right corner off senior midfielder John Liersemann's free kick.

Vessells came to the rescue again in the 70th minute as he dived to the left post to deflect John's eight-yard header. In the 75th minute, the UC keeper leaped to his left to deny SLU's Spiess from 15 yards.

The Billikens out-shot Cincinnati (5-7-2 overall, 4-2-1 C-USA) 14-6 and had a 12-2 advantage in corner kicks. Vessells made eight saves, and his defense cleared two balls off its line. Billiken keeper Martin Hutton made two stops.

Saint Louis (7-5-1, 4-2-1) visits C-USA leader Memphis on Sat., Oct. 24.

CINCINNATI 1, #21 SAINT LOUIS 0
UC  62:21  Jeremiah Gallegos 15-yard header from John Liersemann

Shots: SLU - 14, UC - 6 Corners: SLU - 12, UC - 2 Saves: SLU - 2 (Hutton), UC - 10 (Vessells X) Fouls: SLU - 17, UC - 15 Att: 764