The Saint Louis University women’s soccer team, which continues to acquaint itself with its new Atlantic 10 Conference opponents, met a familiar foe in addition to a new opponent last week.
The team defeated Charlotte, which moved to the A-10 from Conference USA with SLU this year, as well as Richmond this weekend at Robert R. Hermann Stadium.
The Billikens got on the board early when, in their 3-1 victory over Richmond on Sunday afternoon, junior Alex Twellman, who transferred to SLU from Richmond, scored in the second minute of the game.
Twellman’s goal gave the the Billikens a 1-0 lead against her former teammates.
Junior Maureen Hughes sent a through ball to sophomore Cassi Winchell, which left Winchell closing in on Spiders keeper Kelly Kolker.
After moving around Kolker, Winchell sent a shot toward the far post, which was collected by Twellman and sent into the goal from two yards out.
After giving up the early goal, the Spiders clawed back and scored the equalizer in the 15th minute.
Jessie Wolfe brought the ball down the right side of the field and sent a cross to Ali Levine.
Levine’s subsequent header went to Susan Boyer at the far post, where she easily placed the ball in the back of the net, as SLU keeper Amanda Martin guarded the near post.
The tie was short-lived; the Billikens reclaimed the lead about 30 seconds later.
Hughes was fouled, which set up a free kick for senior Kelly Ferguson.
Ferguson’s shot was saved by Kolker, but Hughes collected the rebound and sent the ball to Winchell, who scored from four yards out.
Early in the second half, Twellman and Hughes combined again to score another goal, and SLU put some breathing room between themselves and the Spiders.Twellman sent a pass to Hughes on the right side of the goal, which Hughes then drilled into the far side of the goal.
Throughout the remainder of the game, both SLU and Richmond had good scoring opportunities, though neither was able to put the ball in the back of the net.
Winchell sent a pair of shots over the crossbar, and the Richmond offense tested Martin and the SLU defense, but the keeper registered four saves in the half and proved herself up to the task.
With the win, the Billikens improved to 8-3-0 overall and 3-0-0 in A-10 play.
Friday night the Billikens hosted a familiar foe, Charlotte, whom SLU faced numerous times when they were both members of C-USA, and who moved to the A-10 along with the Billikens this year.
The Billikens dominated the game in terms of shots, out-shooting the 49ers 20-7 en route to a 2-1 victory.
The only tally of the first half came in the 28th minute when Winchell collected a pass from Courtney Hulcer and fired a shot that struck the bottom of the crossbar and went into the goal.
SLU added to its lead in the 63rd minute when Ferguson converted a free kick from 20 yards away.The 49ers’ first and only goal of the game came in the final five minutes.
Lindsay Beam struck a free kick into a crowded area and Kelsey Ormsby came out of the scramble with the ball and scored from a few yards away.
After scoring a pair of goals over the weekend, Winchell was honored with the Atlantic 10 Conference Co-Player of the Week.
Winchell shared the honors with Emily Sedgwick of Duquesne.
“Cassi was still recovering from an injury early in the season, but she is hitting her stride just when we need her,” Saint Louis coach Tim Champion said in a press release. “As we head into a stretch of four conference games on the road, we will need her offensive production.”
The stretch of conference games on the road that Champion referred to begins this weekend in Philadelphia.
SLU visits Temple University on Friday, and then stay within the City of Brotherly Love to play St. Joseph’s University on Sunday.
The Temple Owls are currently 1-9-0 and 0-2-0 in A-10 play, and the St. Joseph’s Hawks are 5-5-2 overall with a 1-0-1 in A-10 play.
