Sometimes you’d rather be lucky than good. The Evansville Purple Aces took full advantage of their luck en route to a 2-1 victory over the Saint Louis University women’s soccer team Tuesday night.
Evansville jumped out to a 1-0 lead before the fans could find their seats. Five minutes into the contest, Trisha Burch hit a pass into the box. Tami Callison gained possession in the box along the endline. Junior goalkeeper Meghann Burke played the ball on the post. Callison flicked the ball across the face of the goal. Ashley Sandefur one-touched the ball into the back of the net.
But SLU wasted no time in scoring the equalizer. Eight minutes later, freshman forward Jamie Perry worked the ball up the right side, but was eventually stopped by the Evansville defense. Perry regrouped outside the box and found freshman midfielder Ellen Gerweck. Gerweck lofted a 35-yard arc just under the crossbar, barely over Evansville keeper Katie Howard.
Play was even throughout most of the first half. But Evansville turned the tide for the final time just before half. The Purple Aces took the lead for good with 17 minutes left in the first half.
Evansville forward Jessica Schwartz was taken down near the top of the box after being fouled by junior sweeper Shannon Myers. Schwartz was awarded a penalty kick. She hit a low shot to Burke’s right. Burke guessed right, but the shot just slipped under her.
The Billikens nearly tied the match with eight minutes left in the game. Junior Jenny Kehl fed Perry on the right side. Perry drilled a shot at the top of the far post. Howard leapt back toward the post and made the save.
“It was a pretty even match,” said coach Tim Champion. “It was a physical game that really could have gone either way. It was a defensive game for both teams. Both teams had chances, but we didn’t give up any dangerous chances.
“We had some opportunities late,” Champion said. “Their keeper made a great save on Jamie Perry’s shot in the upper corner.”
SLU (5-5-0 overall, 2-2-0 in C-USA) faces a critical test this weekend. The Billikens face Conference USA rivals Cincinnati on Friday at 7 p.m. and Louisville on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games are at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. This weekend is also the First Alumni, Family and Friends Weekend for the women’s soccer program.
The Bearcats hold a 6-1-0 series lead over the Billikens after the teams split both games last year. The Billikens defeated the Bearcats 4-0 at home in the regular season before falling 2-1 in double overtime in the C-USA Tournament. Cincinnati is 8-3-0 overall and 4-0-0 in C-USA and in first place in the conference. Senior forward Ann Thomas leads the team with 14 points. Senior keeper Christy Hoffman has been part of seven shutouts and has only yielded four goals this year.
“Cincinnati should be identical to Houston and Evansville,” Champion said. “It should be a tightly contested match. It should be similar to the last four or five games that we’ve played. Hopefully we can score a few goals.”
SLU is 5-0-0 against the Cardinals including a 10-0 thrashing last year. Louisville enters the contest with a 2-8-0 record and a 1-2-0 record in C-USA play. The Cardinals host UT-Martin on Friday before traveling to SLU. Junior midfielder Melissa Wark leads the team with four goals on 20 shots. Freshman keeper Meredith Miller has allowed 29 goals in 10 games, for a 2.85 goals against average.
Laurie Kaminski gets fouled on a header attempt against Iowa.
“They should be better than last year,” Champion said. “They’re losing, but the games have been tight. They should be much-improved from last year. We don’t expect them to be as good as Cincinnati.”
