Saint Louis Billikens Athletics

THE RESULT
Saint Louis 2, Rhode Island 0
Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026 | 7 p.m.
Robert R. Hermann Stadium | St. Louis, Mo.
 
GAME DETAILS
•Audrey Smith recorded the second brace of her collegiate career and the Saint Louis defense did the rest as the top-seeded Billikens defeated fifth-seeded Rhode Island 2-0 in an Atlantic 10 Conference Championship semifinal Wednesday night at Robert R. Hermann Stadium.
•Now unbeaten in their last 12 games, the Billikens (13-2-5) advance to Sunday's tournament final to face second-seeded Dayton (11-6-3). Kickoff at Hermann Stadium is scheduled for noon. The Flyers beat La Salle 3-1 in their semifinal match to extend their winning streak to six.
•Saint Louis and Dayton battled to a 0-0 draw in the regular-season meeting Sept. 24 in Dayton.
•SLU will play for its eighth A10 Championship title in nine years and 10th overall on Sunday.
•Rhode Island concluded its season 8-6-6.
•Smith tallied her first goal in the 64th minute. A Rhode Island player tried to advance the ball to a teammate but the attempt went instead to Blakely Hockett near the midfield stripe. Hockett lofted a long pass to Smith, who beat a defender to the ball and sent a shot past the challenging goalkeeper and inside the far post.
•Saint Louis posted an insurance goal in the 79th minute. Hope Kim met a Rhode Island goal kick at the bottom of the midfield circle and headed the ball forward to Smith, who split and then outran two defenders before scoring from just outside the penalty area.
•Pepper Escher (one save) and Nimu Karani (two saves) combined on the Billikens' 12th shutout of the season, fourth in a row and fifth in the last six games.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
Audrey Smith (Blakely Hockett), 63:09, SLU 1-0; Audrey Smith (Hope Kim), 78:45, SLU 2-0
 
BILLIKEN NOTABLES
•Saint Louis improved to 17-4-1 in the all-time series with Rhode Island, including 11-1-1 in St. Louis and 4-1 in A10 Championship play.
•The Billikens improved to 29-6-1 all-time in A10 Championship games, including 23-1 since 2018. SLU is 17-0 at home as the tournament's No. 1 seed.
•Saint Louis is 94-13-14 (.835) in its last 121 games at Hermann Stadium. Against A10 opponents during the 121-game stretch, the Billikens are 65-3-6 (.919).
•SLU out-shot Rhode Island 15-5 overall and 8-3 in shots on goal.
•The Bills earned a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks.
•Audrey Smith increased her team-leading and career-high total to 12 goals. That ties Smith for the third most goals in a season in program history.
•Hope Kim took sole possession of the team lead with her career-high seventh assist.
•Blakely Hockett registered her second assist of the season.
•Lucie Schwartz, Ava Rademeyer, Ashley Miller, Camille Welker and Blakely Hockett played all 90 minutes.
 
SAINT LOUIS STARTERS
Pepper Escher, Lucie Schwartz, Ava Rademeyer, Hope Kim, Ashley Miller, Audrey Smith, Caroline Chier, Avery Rasmussen, Camille Welker, Caroline Fowlkes, Blakely Hockett
 
SAINT LOUIS SUBSTITUTES
Nimu Karani, Adee Broesder, Addison Stanciak, Emma Naftanel, Leah Simpson, Lauren Zangara