CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Saint Louis freshman midfielder Kyle Hayes (St. Louis, Mo. / CBC) scored to lift top-seeded Saint Louis to a 1-0 victory against No. 4-seed Duquesne on Friday in a semifinal matchup at the A-10 Championships in Charlotte, N.C. The Billikens advance to their second A-10 Championship game in as many years and will face the second-seeded Rhode Island Rams on Sunday at noon (CT).

"Duquense put forth a great defensive effort tonight, and I knew it was going to take a tremendous goal to beat them. We got that tremendous goal," Billiken head coach Dan Donigan said. "It was a total team effort. Freshman keeper Ross Kaufman kept us in it with a beautiful save late in the match. Although this one is nice, we do not have time to enjoy it as we need to get ready for what will be tough task on Sunday."

Hayes put home the only goal the Billikens would need. Alex Matteson possessed the ball on the right flank, and took on a defender one-on-one and beat him to the endline. Eyeing Hayes, Matteson served the ball into the box, which was tracked by Hayes who tucked the ball in the backside netting.

"Kyle did a tremendous job of maneuvering to get on the end of Matteson's pass," Donigan said. "There is no doubt that was his best goal of the season."

The SLU defense, which ranked first in the league during the regular season, lived up to its billing on Friday. Duquesne managed just three shots on goal in the contest, including one late in the second half that Kaufman made a spectacular save on to secure the shutout.

The Billikens out-shot Duquesne (11-7-2) 9-6 and had a 4-2 edge in corners. SLU's Kaufman made three saves, while Vargas made three stops for the Dukes.

Saint Louis (13-3-2) will shoot for the conference title at noon (CT) on Sunday at Transamerica Field against No. 2 seed Rhode Island, a rematch of the regular-season finale, which the Billikens won 3-1 to clinch the regular season title.