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CARDINAL PARK -- In the 17th minute, sophomore midfielder Will Vitalis buried a one-touch pass from Marlon Hairston into the back of the net and despite being outshot 7-4 in the second half, Louisville hung on for the 1-0 win over St. John's.
The lone goal was the Crestwood (Ky) native Vitalis' fourth of the year and his second career game-winner. Junior goalkeeper Mike Mauro, an Air Force Academy transfer starting his seventh straight match, racked up a career-high five saves in earning his third shutout on the year.
Louisville moves to 8-4-1 overall, 4-1 in conference play and improve their lead in the Big East Red Division to three points. The Red Storm will fall from second to a three-way tie for fourth in the division at 2-2-1 in conference play. Paired with Wednesday's 2-2 tie vs. #10 Indiana, the win vs. #10 St. John's should result in a return to the Top 25 Coaches Poll for Louisville.
Next, the Cards travel to USF this Wednesday for another conference matchup that will be televised live, on ESPNU at 7pm EST. South Florida fell out of the NSCAA Coaches Top 25 Poll this week but will be a tough out at one of the nicest soccer facilities in the college game in Corbett Stadium.
Here's how the Big East standings look after Saturday's games:
Red Division
| Standings | Conference | Pts | Pct. | GF | GA | Overall | Pts | Pct. | GF | GA | Home | Away | Neutral | Last 10 | Streak | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville | 4-1-0 | 12 | .800 | 9 | 4 | 8-4-1 | 25 | .654 | 24 | 14 | 7-1 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 7-2-1 | W 1 | ||
| Syracuse | 3-2-0 | 9 | .600 | 5 | 4 | 10-4-0 | 30 | .714 | 28 | 9 | 4-2 | 4-1 | 2-1 | 7-3 | W 1 | ||
| Villanova | 2-0-2 | 8 | .750 | 3 | 1 | 10-2-2 | 32 | .786 | 25 | 11 | 5-2 | 4-0 | 1-0 | 6-2-2 | W 3 | ||
| St. John's | 2-2-1 | 7 | .500 | 5 | 4 | 8-2-4 | 28 | .714 | 22 | 9 | 5-0 | 2-2 | 1-0 | 4-2-4 | L 1 | ||
| Rutgers | 2-2-1 | 7 | .500 | 7 | 7 | 6-5-1 | 19 | .542 | 14 | 14 | 5-0 | 1-4 | 0-1 | 5-4-1 | W 1 | ||
| Cincinnati | 2-2-1 | 7 | .500 | 2 | 4 | 5-7-3 | 18 | .433 | 8 | 15 | 3-2 | 1-4 | 1-1 | 4-4-2 | L 3 | ||
| USF | 1-1-3 | 6 | .500 | 4 | 4 | 7-3-4 | 25 | .643 | 17 | 15 | 5-2 | 1-1 | 1-0 | 4-2-4 | L 1 | ||
| DePaul | 0-5-0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 13 | 3-9-2 | 11 | .286 | 11 | 25 | 2-4 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 2-6-2 | L 1 |
Blue Division
| Standings | Conference | Pts | Pct. | GF | GA | Overall | Pts | Pct. | GF | GA | Home | Away | Neutral | Last 10 | Streak | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marquette | 3-1-0 | 9 | .750 | 11 | 4 | 12-1-0 | 36 | .923 | 28 | 9 | 8-0 | 4-1 | 0-0 | 9-1 | L 1 | ||
| Connecticut | 3-1-0 | 9 | .750 | 9 | 5 | 11-1-1 | 34 | .885 | 27 | 7 | 7-0 | 4-1 | 0-0 | 8-1-1 | W 1 | ||
| Georgetown | 3-2-0 | 9 | .600 | 7 | 7 | 12-2-1 | 37 | .833 | 24 | 13 | 7-1 | 4-1 | 1-0 | 7-2-1 | W 2 | ||
| Notre Dame | 3-2-0 | 9 | .600 | 18 | 6 | 11-3-0 | 33 | .786 | 33 | 12 | 6-0 | 3-3 | 2-0 | 7-3 | W 1 | ||
| Seton Hall | 2-2-0 | 6 | .500 | 7 | 9 | 6-7-0 | 18 | .462 | 17 | 28 | 5-3 | 1-3 | 0-1 | 5-5 | L 2 | ||
| Providence | 1-3-0 | 3 | .250 | 4 | 7 | 3-7-2 | 11 | .333 | 13 | 19 | 2-2 | 1-4 | 0-1 | 3-5-2 | W 1 | ||
| Pittsburgh | 0-5-0 | 0 | .000 | 5 | 18 | 6-6-2 | 20 | .500 | 20 | 27 | 4-3 | 1-3 | 1-0 | 4-6 | L 6 |