The Saint Louis University women’s soccer team posted two
shutout wins this past weekend on the road against Drury, 2-0, and
Southwest Missouri State, 1-0. For the Billikens, this was their
seventh and eighth shutout of the season.
“Shutouts are always what we strive for. Just doing our job we
had a nice solid weekend,” said senior back Anny Lucier. “Two
shutouts and two wins, what else could we ask for?”
The Billikens controlled play throughout the first half,
allowing the Drury Panthers only the first shot. SLU took nine
shots in the opening 45 minutes, forcing Panther keeper Jennie Grib
to make five saves in the first half. “It wasn’t one of our best
games, but we stuck together as a team. The game was very physical,
but we fought back and didn’t sit there and take it and we came
away with the win,” said Lucier.
Freshman Dee Guempel gave the Billikens their first goal of the
night when Guempel had the ball on the left side and sent a serve
into the near post. Grib tried to get the ball, but freshman
Maureen Hughes grabbed the ball just before the keeper could get to
it. Hughes kicked the ball back to Guempel, who struck the ball to
score in the upper right corner.
SLU added another goal in the 80th minute off of a free kick.
Lucier launched a long serve to the right post where sophomore
Christie Cigno and freshman Anna Schuch attacked the serve. Cigno
got to the ball first and kicked it to Schuch, who put the ball in
the goal.
“Our bodies were really worn down, but mentally we had to keep
going and were able to score another goal,” Lucier said.
The second game for the Bills was another shutout, 1-0 against
SMS.
The Billikens outshot the Bears 7-2, controlling the first half
and forcing SMS keeper Levi Stormo into four saves in the half.
“We moved the ball very well, we played physical even though two
of our players got hurt, one with a sprained ankle and another with
a bruised foot, we continued to play hard,” Lucier said.
The Billikens’ best chance to score in the half came in the 20th
minute, when Guempel sent a ball from the left side across the
front of the goal to Courtney Hulcer on the far right side. Hulcer
kicked a shot inside to the right post that sent Stormo scurrying
to save the ball.
In the waning moments of the half, the Bills had another quality
scoring opportunity as an SMS defender fouled Tara Gresco just
outside the box. Gresco sent the serve to Maureen Hughes at the far
post, but her shot went wide. The Bears came out of the halftime
break aggressively, but the Bills did not stop advancing into the
box. In the 49th minute, the Bears’ keeper was able to deflect a
shot by Schuch, enough to slow it to a roll that went just wide of
the goal.
The Bears had their best opportunity to score in the 52nd
minute, when Sarah Guenther kicked a ball across the box to Katie
DeCarlo on the left side. SLU defender Trisha Neidenbach stepped up
to intercept the pass and forced DeCarlo to foul her, giving the
Bills possession of the ball once again. The Billikens scored on
the seventh of their nine corner kicks in the game. Hulcer sent a
serve to the far post, putting the ball right in front of the goal
and Cigno took the opportunity to tap it in.
The Bills are on the road again this weekend.
“It’s been a long last couple of weeks on the road and
especially tough with midterms coming up, but we are really looking
forward to being home before fall break,” Lucier said.
They head to North Carolina to play East Carolina tomorrow at 2
p.m. and Charlotte on Sunday for a noon game.
Sweet Carolina
Who: East Carolina Pirates (8-9)
When: Tomorrow, 2 p.m.
Where: Greenville, North Carolina
