Louisville - Saint Louis midfielder Alex Matteson scored twice and the fifth-seeded Billikens ousted No. 4 seed USF 2-0 in a men's Conference USA tournament quarterfinal match this afternoon at the University of Louisville's Cardinal Field. The Billikens advance to Saturday's noon (CT) semifinal match against regular-season league champion Memphis.

"We played as well defensively as we have all year," Billikens head coach Dan Donigan said. "We knew if we could be solid defensively that we'd get our chances, and Alex made two count."

Saint Louis jumped on top in the seventh minute on Matteson's career-high third goal of the year. After collecting freshman defender Brandon Gasparovic's long ball, Matteson floated a 17-yard chip from the right flank to the near post over charging USF keeper Dane Brenner.

"We had been working on getting runs behind their defenders in practice this week, and it worked for us," Matteson said. "I got a great ball from Brandon, beat their keeper to it and managed to get it over him."

Billiken freshman keeper Pat Disbennett made only his fifth start of the season and made a big save on USF forward Hunter West's 15-yard drive in the 27th minute. The Billikens settled into a more conservative mode for the rest of the first half as the Bulls out-shot SLU 7-3 and had a 3-0 advantage in corner kicks.

With Saint Louis content to defend and counter in the second half, Matteson notched his second goal in the 77th minute. After junior midfielder Danny Wynn knocked down a USF clearance, he fed Matteson streaking down the left flank. The sophomore midfielder buried a 17-yard strike to the right post.

The Bulls continued to press the attack in the final 10 minutes. After a Billiken foul, USF freshman midfielder Christian Jimenez hit the left goal post from 25 yards off the free kick. West again tested Disbennett from 20-yards in the 87th minute, but the rookie keeper dived to his right to make the save.

USF (10-5-2) out-shot Saint Louis (9-7-1) 13-6 and had a 6-1 edge in corners. The game reversed a season-long trend for the Billikens as they won a match in which they were out-shot for the first time. Disbennett made four saves to record his first postseason win.

SAINT LOUIS 2 , USF 0
SLU  6:17  Alex Matteson 17 yds from Brandon Gasparovic's
SLU 76:12  Matteson 15 yds from Danny Wynn

Shots: SLU - 6, USF - 13 Corners: SLU - 1, USF - 6 Saves: SLU - 4 (Disbennett), USF - 1 (Brenner) Fouls: SLU - 14, USF - 14