Unfortunately, a team’s record doesn’t have columns for talent.
“This year wasn’t as bad as our record may look. Some games just didn’t go our way,” said senior back Melissa Gossman. “We just didn’t get the breaks we needed. A lot of our games came down to one goal and it just wasn’t ours.
“We found that we were giving up goals on corner kicks and dead balls. That was what was frustrating,” Gossman added. “The scores didn’t show the flow of the game. We didn’t get dominated or beat the whole game.”
The Saint Louis University women’s soccer team finished the season 8-10-1 (5-4-1 in Conference USA) after a 2-0 loss to Cincinnati in the C-USA Tournament in Milwaukee.
The Billikens did realize the positives of the season, mainly the emergence of freshmen Jamie Perry as the team’s leading scorer and one of the top scorers in C-USA.
“There were positives this season,” said junior midfielder Jenny Kehl. “We had a lot of freshman get to play. Jamie Perry and Tressa Pecher came in and proved themselves. It shows that the program has a strong future.”
“One of the biggest surprises was Jamie Perry coming in and scoring 11 goals as a freshman. I expected her to score for us, but 11 goals is a good chunk,” said coach Tim Champion. “Tressa Pecher came in and started every game for us as a freshman. And Ellen Gerweck played well for us before she got hurt.”
SLU opened the season with a hard-fought 2-1 overtime victory at Creighton. Perry scored her first goal as a Billiken in overtime for the win. The Billikens stayed on the road and traveled to Charlottesville, Va., for the University of Virginia Tournament. The Billikens faced Auburn in the first round and lost 2-1.
Junior back Megan McNiff provided the offense for the Billikens, scoring off a corner from junior midfielder Mandy Trokey. SLU then played its second overtime match in three games in a 2-1 loss to West Virginia. Kehl tallied SLU’s goal.
The Billikens played their first home game Sept. 18 against Iowa and righted the ship with a 2-0 win over the Hawkeyes. SLU followed that game with another 2-0 win, this time beating the Memphis Tigers in the first conference game of the year. Anny Lucier scored the game winner with a 30-yard loft that was out of the keeper’s reach.
TCU visited Robert R. Hermann Stadium on Sept. 23. The Billikens jumped out to an early lead when Lucier hit a ball through the TCU’s keeper’s legs. The Horned Frogs were able to regroup and won 3-2 in double-overtime.
After splitting a road trip with a 2-0 loss at Houston and a 1-0 victory over Tulane, SLU returned home for a match with intrastate rival Southwest Missouri State. The contest was a physical struggle and the Billikens were able to grab a win. Kehl scored on a great individual effort in overtime for a 1-0 victory.
“That win against SMS was huge for us,” Lucier said. “It was a confidence boost for us. We played well and finished on a big-time goal, which we needed to do.”
After a 2-1 loss on the road to the Evansville Purple Aces, SLU returned home for games against Cincinnati and Louisville. The Bearcats won 2-0, but the Billikens rebounded to knock off the Cardinals 3-1 on a pair of goals from Perry and an insurance goal from junior midfielder Erin Schwetye.
North Carolina was next on the itinerary for the Billikens when they faced Charlotte on Oct. 19 and ECU on Oct. 21. Perry and Lucier scored early for SLU, but the 49ers were able to battle back and earn a 2-2 tie. The ECU Pirates took a 3-2 win in double-overtime. SLU then faced the most important games of the year.
The Billikens needed to win their last two C-USA games to make the conference tournament. The first challenge was a match against Marquette in Milwaukee. Marquette hadn’t lost at home in threes year. The Billikens changed that.
Schwetye bent a corner kick on goal and scored the only goal SLU would need. The defense held off the Golden Eagles and earned a necessary victory.
“We had to win that game to make it and we did,” Perry said. “Even though Marquette was at the top of the conference, we played our game.”
“Marquette was a big game for us,” Gossman said. “They were one of our harder opponents. We’ve always struggled with Marquette and had tied them the past two games. We went up to Wisconsin and did something that we hadn’t done in two years.”
SLU returned home for their final conference game of the year against DePaul. The Bills road the momentum of the win at Marquette and throttled the Blue Demons 6-0. Lucier, Perry, senior forward Ismahan Mohsen, Schwetye sophomore back Carrie Carlson and junior midfielder Shannon Myers all scored for the Billikens. Kehl recorded four assists in the game.
Two days later SLU traveled to the University of Kansas. The Jayhawks won 3-0. On Nov. 4, the Bills returned home for Senior Day and a match with Wisconsin. Despite two goals from Kehl and one from Perry, the Badgers were able to pull out a 4-3 win.
SLU then entered the C-USA Tournament as the eighth seed and was matched up against the No. 1 seed Cincinnati. In a hard-fought, physical game, the Bearcats were able to prevail 2-0.
C-USA rewarded three Billikens for their efforts during the year. Perry was voted C-USA Freshman of the Year by the conference coaches and was named to the Second Team All Conference. Kehl was chosen for the First Team All Conference and junior goalkeeper Meghann Burke was named to the All-Conference Third Team.
The Billikens now look to their spring season.
“We’re going to use the spring to get back on track and give a lot of players playing time,” Champion said. “We’ll be in a few tournaments in the spring that will provide us with good competition. It will give us a level to judge ourselves against. It will be a building process for us.”
The Billikens know their goal for next season.
“Next year, I expect us to come back and contend for the conference title and get into the NCAA Tournament,” Champion said.
