CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Making its second straight appearance in the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time in program history, the fourth-seeded St. Bonaventure women's soccer team saw its 2009 campaign come to end with a 3-0 loss to fifth-seeded Saint Louis in the opening round on Thursday night.

The Bonnies finish with a 10-11 overall record, becoming the first team in program history to put together back-to-back double-digit win seasons since joining the A-10 in 1993. The Brown and White also set a single-season record with seven conference wins to finish in a tie for third.

“Saint Louis was the better team today,” said head coach Manoj Khettry. “Unfortunately, we were still fatigued from playing six games in 14 days which explains why we were so static and played with heavy legs. Saying that, it doesn't change the fact that St. Louis out-played us.”

Junior keeper Nicole Markert was busy in net all night, making a career-high 12 saves in the loss. For the game, the Billikens held a 26-8 shot advantage.

It took Saint Louis just over two minutes to light up the scoreboard on a goal from Andrea Barklage to take a 1-0 lead.

Despite facing 14 first half shots, Markert limited the Billikens to just one goal over the opening 45 minutes making six saves to keep it a 1-0 game at the break.

SLU made it a two-goal game in the 62nd minute, as Kelly Waeckerle found Ashley Brazill for the insurance goal.

Waeckerle struck again just six minutes later, this time scoring a goal of her own to make it a 3-0 Saint Louis edge.

The Bonnies put half of their eight shots on net, led by two shots apiece from juniors Sarah Clark and Anna Cunningham.

St. Bonaventure will graduate just two players off this year's team. Seniors Katelyn Shelofsky and Sarah Wolcott helped the Bonnies win 28 games over their careers, including 21 over their final two seasons.

“The good and said thing is we only say goodbye to two seniors, but it's going to be impossible to replace what they meant to our program these past four years,” Khettry said. “We'll be back and our goal is we want to win a tournament game and take the next step as a perennial tournament team. I know we will accept the challenge because I have great people who want to be better players.”