The Saint Louis University women’s soccer team won a pair of exhibition matches last week to start off what they hope to be a season that will end in the NCAA tournament. They started off with a 3-1 victory over Evansville on Tuesday night at Robert R. Hermann Stadium before traveling to Milwaukee, where they defeated former Conference USA rival Marquette University on Saturday night.
Saturday night at Marquette, the Billikens took an early lead. Sophomore forward Cassi Winchell collected a ball that had been sent over the Marquette defense by senior midfielder Kelly Ferguson. Upon collecting the ball, Winchell drew Marquette keeper Laura Boyer off her line, then sent the ball into the back of the net.
After controlling play early, SLU saw Marquette take control of play for most of the remainder of the half, out-shooting the Billikens, 6-1. Despite getting off more shots, the Golden Eagles couldn’t put the ball past senior keeper Amanda Martin, as the Billikens led 1-0 at halftime.
Play in the second half was much more even than in the first stanza, with SLU out-shooting Marquette, 6-5. The only goal of the half came in the 71st minute. Junior midfielder Courtney Hulcer sent a long free kick from near midfield into the penalty area, where junior midfielder Maureen Hughes headed the ball over Marquette keeper Christy Smith to sophomore back Liz Fox, who scored from very close to give SLU some breathing room.
Marquette’s best scoring opportunity came in the closing seconds of the game, when the Golden Eagles were awarded a penalty kick after a SLU player was called for a handball in the box. Martin made a diving save to her left and grabbed the ball, preserving the shutout, as time expired.
Tuesday’s game against Evansville started inauspiciously for the Billikens, as the Purple Aces got on the board early. Kara Murphy slid a through ball past a SLU defender as Kayla Lambert retrieved the ball near midfield with only Martin standing between her and the goal. As Murphy moved in on goal, Martin was able to get a piece of the ball, slowing it down before it bounced off a SLU defender and went into the net, giving Evansville a 1-0 lead.
From that point on, the Billikens dominated play, registering 23 shots to Evansville’s five for the game, and also holding a 6-0 advantage on corner kicks.
SLU tied the game up a little more than 20 minutes later, as Hulcer struck a free kick to junior forward Dee Guempel, who collected the ball and sent a side volley into the net.
The two teams went into halftime tied, but the Billikens quickly broke the deadlock in the second half. Hughes sent a through ball to Winchell, who beat Aces keeper Jessica Sumner to give SLU a 2-1 lead in the 47th minute of the match.
The Billikens widened their lead in the 63rd minute on a superb individual effort by Hulcer. As the pre-season All-Atlantic 10 player maneuvered around a couple of Evansville defenders on the right side of the field outside the penalty area, she spun around and fired a shot that beat Sumner to the far left post.
Aside from the early breakaway, Martin was relatively untested in goal for the Billikens, making no saves. With about 20 minutes remaining, senior keeper Sarah Schweitzer came in for Martin, making two saves during that time.
After the game, head coach Tim Champion pointed out his satisfaction with the team’s fitness level and the play of the freshmen, while seeing the defense as something that will require improvement.
“I’m happy with how we worked,” Champion said. “We’ve just got some things to work out defensively to make us better there. We should have a good year.”
The Billikens are next in action Friday night as they open up their regular season against the University of Oklahoma Sooners at 7 p.m. at Hermann Stadium. Following that game, they head down to Houston to take on the Rice University Owls on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Owls defeated SLU 1-0 last year at Hermann Stadium in a game where the Billikens out-shot Rice, 19-6.
In other news, the Billikens were picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 Conference this season, their first season in the conference. The University of Dayton Flyers, who went undefeated in A-10 play last year en route to an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, were picked first. Hulcer and Guempel were picked to be on the preseason All-Atlantic 10 team.
