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But visiting Chaminade proved otherwise.

The Red Devils struck for a pair of goals off set pieces midway through the second half and went on to a 2-1 victory in the season and Metro Catholic Conference opener for both squads.

"We hung in and we never stopped fighting,'' said Chaminade junior Hunter Daly, who came off the bench to assist on both Red Devil goals. "This is a great win for us to start the season. After falling behind, we did a good job of keeping ourselves in the game. We hung in against a top team and ended up with a great result."

SLUH, which returned nine starters from the squad that beat De Smet in penalty kicks to win the Missouri Class 4 title last November in its last game before Saturday, grabbed the lead against Chaminade less than two minutes into the match.

Senior Andrew Wolf got the Junior Billikens started quickly when he headed in a corner from junior Gabriel Khazen.

The majority of the first half was battled in the midfield with neither team creating any other substantial scoring chances.

The host Junior Billikens nearly added to their lead less than five minutes after halftime. After winning a battle for a 50-50 ball at the edge of the Red Devils penalty area, SLUH's Khazen tested Chaminade goalkeeper Alex Stadnyk with a low shot that the goalkeeper managed to stop.

The rebound fell to the Junior Bills' James Barry, who pushed his shot wide.

"If we get that one and go up 2-0, maybe that's the game,'' SLUH coach Bob O'Connell said. "But give credit to Chaminade. They hung in and they found a way. And I thought they did a better job of playing with the lead than we did."

SLUH seemed to be building some momentum through the first 20 or so minutes of the second half. But Chaminade stayed close and eventually found a way.

Midway through the second half, Chaminade's Daly played a free kick from about 40 yards out into the box for freshman wingback Weston Payne, who picked up the goal with a header.

Less than five minutes later, on a Daly corner kick, the Red Devils' Holden Radefeld scored with a header to put Chaminade on top 2-1.

"I was just trying to keep the ball away from the keeper and to give our guys a chance to make a play," Daly said.

SLUH "had us pinned in pretty good for the first 20 or so minutes of that second half,'' Chaminade coach Mike Gauvain said. "But one we got the free kick and scored, the game's momentum shifted. Hunter played in a couple of great balls and our guys off the bench today really did an outstanding job. We played a lot of guys today and they all contributed to the win. We didn't create a ton of chances, but I thought our guys off the bench did a great job of controlling the ball and keeping it away from SLUH."

Chaminade and SLUH will meet again Sept. 23 at Chaminade to close out Pool C action in the St. Louis High School Champions League. This fall, Chaminade is competing at the state level in Class 3 while SLUH remains in Class 4.

"The day started OK — the crowd was outstanding and we got the early goal — but in the end, Chaminade got the better of us," O'Connell said. "We never expected to go undefeated this season, so the key now is see how our guys respond. We need to learn from this and hopefully make the needed adjustments as we try to move forward."

Both teams are scheduled to play Tuesday, with SLUH hosting Marquette and Chaminade playing at Clayton, which won the Missouri Class 2 title last year.