ST. LOUIS - Dayton tallied a first half goal and used stifling defense to hold off a charging Saint Louis offense in the second half en route to a 1-0 victory in Atlantic 10 Conference men's soccer action Sunday afternoon at Robert R. Hermann Stadium.

SLU, which came into the week ranked 15th in the country by the NSCAA, dips to 6-2-5 overall and 2-2-0 in the A-10. It is the first time since SLU joined the league four years ago that it lost more than one game in conference play. Dayton vaults to the top of the A-10 standings with a 9-2-2 overall mark and 3-0-1 league slate.

"We have to be critical of ourselves and take a look at every guy in every situation," SLU head coach Dan Donigan said. "Dayton came out and played hard and executed their game plan, and we have to find a way to beat that because we'll play games similar to this the rest of the season. We had bad decisions in the final third. I wasn't concerned about them getting the second goal; I was most concerned with us breaking through to get the tying goal."

The Flyers capitalized on its first shot of the game when Jack Pearson notched his fourth goal of the season 18 minutes into the contest. Simeon Zapryanov was over the ball roughly 40 yards out on a restart, and sent a long ball to the far post from the right side. Pearson, who was one of two attackers stationed near the far post, got a head on the ball and scored from eight yards.

The Billikens, who controlled possession for the majority of the first half and out-shot the Flyers 5-2 in the frame, created several chances but were unable to convert. Perhaps the best scoring chance for SLU in the first stanza came when Scott Wisniewski near the top of the box. Wisniewski turned and fired, but Dayton's Tyler Picard was there to make the stop.

Dayton attempted to build on its lead just before intermission when Jeff Popella drove the length of the field, but his shot was corralled by SLU keeper Pat Disbennett.

It was much of the same in the second half. The Billikens maintained possession in Dayton territory for the majority of the 45 minute session, but the Flyers were strong on the ball and cleared before SLU could set up any dangerous opportunities. The Bills had eight shots to Dayton's two in the frame.

SLU applied a constant pressure late, which included several corner kicks, but were unable to sneak one past Picard. With less than 10 minutes left, Jimmy Holmes hit the post on a deflection in a skirmish in the box.

Overall, the Billikens out-shot Dayton 13-4 and had a 7-0 edge in corner kicks. Disbennett made two saves for SLU, while Pickard had three stops for Dayton.

The Bills hit the road next weekend and travel to Charlotte next Saturday night. Game time is set for 6 p.m. (CT).