St. Louis - Saint Louis clinched a spot in the Conference USA postseason tournament by blanking East Carolina 1-0 tonight in a men's soccer match before 1,128 fans at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. Hermann Trophy candidate Will John netted the winner, while Pat Disbennett and Jeff Sackman combined for the shutout.

"We got the win that we needed, and that's all that really matters," said Billikens head coach Dan Donigan. "We played well, attacked well and finally got a goal. We won even though things still didn't bounce our way."

With a 25-mph wind at their backs, the Billikens applied consistent pressure throughout the first half and finally broke through in the 35th minute on John's 10th goal of the year. The goal snapped a two-game shutout streak and a scoreless string of 287:59. The Bills had not found the back of the net since scoring three times in the first half at Louisville on Oct. 16.

East Carolina had its best chance in the 33rd minute when midfielder Adam Combs made SLU's Disbennett dive to his right to save a 15-yard shot ticketed for the right corner. The Billikens out-shot the Pirates 10-2 in the first half and had an 8-0 advantage on corners.

ECU keeper Brian Pope kept the Pirates in the match in the second half with a diving save on Billiken midfielder Eddie Parker's deflection in the 77th minute, and the shot hit the goal post. The Bills had another flurry around the ECU goal in the 82nd minute when midfielder Patrick Garcia couldn't get a foot on John's centering pass in front of an open goal, and then DiRaimondo rifled another 18-yard drive just wide of the right post.

The Pirates (6-10-0 overall, 2-5-0 C-USA) had two good chances to tie it. Sackman dived to his right to snag ECU midfielder Alex Diedrichs' 25-yard strike in the 74th minute, and Pirates forward J.W. Gallagher was alone from 10 yards to the right post, but shot high in the 83rd minute.

The Billikens out-shot the Pirates 14-4 and had a 12-0 edge in corners. Disbennett and Sackman each made one save to post the shutout, while ECU's Pope made five stops.

"Based on our recent results, we decided to make a change in goal," Donigan said. "We've got two other hard-working keepers, and they deserved a chance, too. We'll decide whether (senior keeper) Martin Hutton is back in goal on Sunday over the next day or so. Nothing's certain at this point."

Saint Louis (8-6-1, 5-3-1) closes its regular season by hosting defending national champion and eighth-ranked Indiana at Hermann Stadium on Sun., Oct. 31, at 1 p.m.

SAINT LOUIS 1, EAST CAROLINA 0
SLU  34:55  Will John 4 yds from Danny Wynn

Shots: SLU - 14, ECU - 4 Corners: SLU - 12, ECU - 0 Saves: SLU - 2 (Disbennett-1, Sackman-1), ECU - 5 (Pope) Fouls: SLU - 2, ECU - 9 Att: 1,128