ST. LOUIS - St. Louis(m) freshman Benny Estes scored in the 67th minute to lift the Billikens past the visiting La Salle Explorers 1-0 Sunday in Atlantic 10 Conference men’s soccer action at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. SLU senior keeper Ross Kaufman assisted on Estes' goal and made four saves to secure his third shutout.

The Billikens improve to 9-5-0 overall and remain tied for second in the Atlantic 10 with a 4-1-0 mark. La Salle dips to 4-9-3 and 0-4-3 in the league.

It was the final regular-season home game for the Billikens, who play their remaining four regular-season tilts on the road.

"It was important for us to get these three points to keep pace in the conference," Billikens head coach Dan Donigan said. "We weren’t overall pleased, however, with the way we played and the guys know it. This is a game we need to try to finish off a bit earlier. We were fortunate to get that goal, and Benny Estes did a nice job of finishing."

Following a flurry of opportunities and near misses, Estes put the Billikens on the board at 66:17. Kaufman lifted a long punt that bounced once before Estes found the ball in the penalty area. From roughly 15 yards, he fired to the far post for his second goal of the season.

Sophomores Mike Roach and Beau Bellomy both hit the post in the second half. Roach took a feed from sophomore Stephen Bortolon and fired toward the near side, but his shot glanced off the bottom of the post. Later, Bellomy had an opportunity in the box, but his shot hit off the inside of the far post and was corralled by La Salle keeper Kyle Quigley.

In the first half, senior Rob Viviano connected with sophomore Alex Johnston on a ball that eventually came to senior Scott Wisniewski, who fired just wide. Roach had the Bills’ first legitimate scoring chance in the first half after running up the right side, then turning parallel with the endline. He generated an open look and fired, but Quigley dove to his right to snag the hard liner.

The Billikens out-shot the Explorers 24-9 and held a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks. Quigley made nine saves for La Salle.

Saint Louis begins a four-game roadswing to end the regular season. Next week, it travels to Cincinnati to face Xavier Friday, Oct. 30, in a 6 p.m. (CT) matchup. Sunday, SLU heads to Dayton to face the Flyers at noon (CT).