For the Saint Louis Billikens women’s soccer team, when it rains, it pours.
After scoring only seven goals through 10 games this season, the Bills exploded for five tallies this past weekend, defeating Atlantic 10 Conference foes Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The University of Massachusetts Minutewomen (3-5-2, 2-1-0) came to Robert R. Hermann stadium this past Friday night, Oct. 3, riding a five game unbeaten streak. The Bills weren’t intimidated, and their attack strategy and aggressive demeanor showed it. Saint Louis gained an edge early, with junior Ashley Brazill setting the tone by scoring her first goal of the season at the 13:46 mark, assisted by Ashley Hayes and Andrea Barklage.
Barklage, a sophomore midfielder, was just getting warmed up. At the 36 minute mark, Barklage headed in a Susan Frederickson pass to make the score 2-0. After St. Louis native Sally Sinclair scored her first goal of the year at the 43rd minute, Barklage continued her offensive tear, heading Brazill’s pass into the back of the net. The two-goal outing was Barklage’s first of her career, and the Billikens produced more than enough offense to take down UMass, winning by a final of 4-0.
Goalkeepers Hannah Perry and Amber Zdanovec combined to record the Billikens’ sixth shutout of the season, good for second best in the A-10. The Bills didn’t allow a shot in the first half, and only allowed two shots on goal the entire game.
The Billikens outshot the Minutewomen by an astounding 28 shots to three. The flurry of goals was not left up to luck or chance. Rather, it was timely, strategic adjustments made by head coach Tim Champion that provided the spark needed.
“We put some different players up top this time around. Having Barklage attacking from the midfield, Brazill at striker, and Frederickson at sweeper was key. We have a lot better chemistry than two weeks ago. The girls seem much more team-oriented … it’s a better atmosphere,” Champion said.
The team also placed more emphasis on the offensive side of the ball during practice this past week.
“We really turned it up this week during practice. It was intense. We worked on shooting a lot,” Champion said.
On Sunday, Oct. 4, the University of Rhode Island Rams came into town, and the Billikens were eager to bring their record to .500 and get a leg up in the conference standings. Locked in a defensive struggle for the majority of the game, SLU managed to break the tie when senior Kristen Sapienza tallied her first goal of the season at the 83:14 mark. Sophomore Andrea Barklage assisted Sapienza on the goal, bringing her point total for the weekend to four. The Billikens held the Rams for the remainder of the game, winning by a score of 1-0, and improving their record to 5-5-2, and 2-1-1 in the conference. Rhode Island fell to 3-7-1, 1-3-0.
As opposed to Friday’s game, defense was the highlight of the game this time around, with the Billikens notching their seventh shutout of the year, second most through 12 games in school history.
Sophomore goalkeeper Hannah Perry made three saves including two in the last six minutes. The ability to survive onslaughts of shots are one of many reasons why Perry ranks second in the Atlantic 10 in Goals Against Average (GAA) with .57 per game and six shutouts.
“[Perry] has been making adjustments throughout the year. In some of the earlier games, she got beat on some tough goals, but she’s made adjustments so she can make those tough saves. She always makes one or two saves that are critical”- said Head Coach Tim Champion.
After her impressive offensive weekend, sophomore midfielder Andrea Barklage was awarded the Atlantic 10 Women’s Soccer Conference Player of the Week award for the week of September 28 through October 4. Barklage now leads the Billikens in scoring, with 10 points, including 4 goals, minutes played (1,039 out of 1,120), and shots (30).
This upcoming weekend the Billikens head to Ohio to take on the Xavier University Musketeers on Friday, Oct. 9, and the University of Dayton Flyers on Sunday, Oct. 11.
Xavier owns a 2-9-1 record (1-2-1 in conference play), with their lone A-10 victory coming at La Salle. Dayton currently holds an unblemished record, coming in at 8-0-4 (4-0-0 in conference play), and is tied atop the A-10 rankings. The Flyers own the second best goals against average (GAA) in the country (.23), and are second in shutout percentage nationally (.750). The Billikens know that they’re taking on stiff competition this weekend.
“Xavier has a tough place to play in, and Dayton is a top quality team. Playing them will give us a good idea of where we stand,” Champion said.
