The Saint Louis University women’s soccer team suffered its
first home loss of the season Wednesday night. A tight 1-0 affair
ended with the Vanderbilt Commodores as the victors, dealing the
Bills their second consecutive defeat.

The game began with an uneventful first half that ended with no
goals for either side. SLU’s attack fought in hard from the wings,
controlling the ball throughout much of the first 45 minutes with
the closest scoring chances coming on separate occasions when
junior Jamie Perry headed a cross just over the crossbar and
sophomore Christie Cigno volleyed a similar pass on the top of the
net. All told, SLU out-shot the Commodores 8-1.

Vanderbilt created very little offense in the early going. Any
attacks were quickly cut off by SLU’s midfield defense and strong
pressure from the defensive backs. However, the tables turned early
into the second half, as Vanderbilt increased their attacking
pressure.

In the 57th minute, a shot from VU midfielder Michelle Bruntlett
pulled Billiken goalkeeper Lyndsay Gensler out of the net,
deflecting the shot to the top of the box.

This left an open goal, but the Commodores were not able to
capitalize as several shots caromed off a swarm of SLU defenders
with a notable stop coming from senior Anny Lucier to ward off the
attack for the time being.

There was no such luck when, in the 80th minute, a shot from
Vanderbilt’s Susan McAleavery deflected through the hands of
Gensler, setting up a corner kick for the Commodores.

Junior Molly Wilson struck the kick to the opposite side of the
box, where it found senior Jennifer Lewis waiting to hit the shot
into the upper 90 for the deciding goal.

“We played well, it was just a matter of not finishing. There
was a bit of a lapse on that corner; it happens. We moved the ball,
but weren’t able to stick it in, so you take a loss” coach Tim
Champion said.

In the past two weeks, SLU is 3-2 with their only other loss
coming on the road to Marquette last Sunday when they fell by a
score of 2-1. Freshman Dee Guempel put the Bills on the board first
with what ended up being the lone goal, as the Golden Eagles scored
twice before halftime, which was all they needed to hold off the
Bills.

The weekend road trip ended up at an even 1-1 with Saturday’s
win against Western Illinois.

Amanda Martin and Gensler split time in goal, accounting for a
2-0 shutout. Goals came from Perry and Guempel.

SLU took both home games the weekend of Oct. 16, defeating
Louisville and Cincinnati by scores of 2-1 and 1-0 respectively,
with Perry scoring in both fixtures, propelling the Bills to
victory.

Perry’s goal against Louisville made her the all-time leading
goal scorer in Saint Louis University women’s soccer history,
breaking Trisha Underberg’s record of 28.

Perry, still only a junior, has seven goals this season, raising
her tally to 31, with plenty of time to add to that mark before her
career at SLU comes to an end.

“It’s a pretty exciting accomplishment. I, of course, never
could have done it without the girls around me. They’re the ones
who feed me all of my goals,” Perry said of her new record.

Yesterday’s loss drops the Bills record to 11-5-2 and 7-1 at
home with one game against DePaul left to improve that mark in the
regular season.

The team may have already clinched a bid in the Conference USA
tournament, but they are far from ready to relax.

“We have a real good chance of winning the tournament. No one
team has stood out this year, so we’re all pretty even. It doesn’t
matter who we play, I think we can beat any of them,” Perry
said.

SLU will play their final home game of the season Saturday
against DePaul.

Then, next Wednesday, they move on to Charlotte for the C-USA
tournament, where a victorious effort would give them their first
ever bid into the NCAA tournament, which has been the team’s
ultimate goal from the word go.

C-USA Season Opener

Who: DePaul Blue Demons

When: Saturday, 1 p.m.

Where: Robert R. Hermann Stadium