St. Louis - Hermann Trophy candidate Will John netted a first-half hat trick as fourth-ranked Saint Louis blitzed Missouri-St. Louis 8-0 in the Billikens' regular-season opener tonight before 1,445 fans at Robert R. Hermann Stadium.

The Billikens remained unbeaten in home openers at Hermann Stadium by improving to 6-0-0.

"Despite the score, we still focused on being disciplined, fundamentally sound and maintaining our shape," Billikens head coach Dan Donigan said. "We got a look at a variety of different people in different positions, which is something we may have to do throughout the year."

Saint Louis jumped on top in the 11th minute on junior midfielder Ryan Wileman's eight-yard header. Junior midfielder Danny Wynn picked up the assist. Three minutes later, John pounced on an Alex Matteson rebound and drilled it inside the left post. Matteson made it a three-goal margin in the 19th minute as he pounded a 25-yard drive under the cross bar with Wileman assisting.

SLU sophomore midfielder John DiRaimondo continued the onslaught in the 26th minute as he buried an eight-yard shot to the left post off a perfect through ball from Matteson. John picked up his second goal of the night at 35:00 on a six-yard deflection of freshman defender Tim Ward's cross. Sophomore midfielder Casey Spiess sent Ward in on the right flank. John netted his third goal at 44:35. The Billiken sophomore picked up a Ward pass that was knocked down by a Rivermen defender and hammered it from 10 yards.

With the Billikens substituting heavily in the second half, sophomore forward Eddie Parker notched his first career goal on a header off freshman midfielder Andrew Reeder's corner. It was Reeder's first career point. Freshman midfielder Vince Vitale registered his first career goal on a 14-yard blast inside the left post in the 66th minute.

The Billikens out-shot UMSL (0-3-0) 22-8. Bills junior keeper Jeff Sackman blanked the Rivermen in the first half, and freshman Pat Disbennett came on in the second half to complete the shutout while making one save. UMSL's Zach Hoette made two stops in the first half, while Adam Balbi relieved Hoette in the second half and made three stops.

Saint Louis (1-0-0) begins its Conference USA season on Sat., Sept. 4, at Marquette. Kick-off in Milwaukee is 7 p.m.

#4 SAINT LOUIS 8, UMSL 0
SLU  10:09  Ryan Wileman 8-yd header from Danny Wynn
SLU  14:07  Will John 10 yds from Alex Matteson
SLU  18:08  Matteson 25 yds from Wileman
SLU  25:58  John DiRaimondo 8 yds from Matteson
SLU  35:00  John 6-yd deflection from Tim Ward, Casey Spiess
SLU  44:35  John 10 yds from Ward
SLU  51:39  Eddie Parker 6-yd header from Andrew Reeder
SLU 65:56  Vince Vitale 14 yds from Andrew Moses

Shots: SLU - 22, UMSL - 8
Corners: SLU - 3, UMSL - 1
Saves: SLU - 1 (Sackman-0, DisBennett-1), UMSL - 5 (Hoette-2, Balbi-3)
Fouls: SLU - 16, UMSL - 13
Att:  1,445