With a No. 2 seed already wrapped up for the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament, the Webster University women’s soccer team rolled past Blackburn College 4-0 on Oct. 29 in Carlinville, Ill.
The Gorloks showed no ill effects of looking ahead to the tournament, as they dominated from start to finish in the regular-season finale for both teams.
“Things really clicked,” freshman forward Kristin Montgomery said. “We put together some very good passes and through balls. We will have to do the same in the tournament if we are going to win it.”
Montgomery led the Gorloks by scoring two goals against Blackburn, one in each half. Senior midfielder Lindsey Owens and sophomore midfielder Katie Aubuchon each chipped in a goal to round out the scoring.
Although Webster controlled the action, Blackburn was aggressive and did not go down without a fight.
“They played like they had nothing to lose,” Aubuchon said. “They were playing us and not the ball, so we had to keep from getting hurt.”
Freshman Jessica Davis started in goal and shut down yet another opponent. Although she typically plays only half the game, Davis has a 0.23 goals against average, which is one of the top marks in the nation. Davis would officially be ranked fourth in the country if she had a little more playing time.
“I had no idea my goal ratio was so low,” Davis said. “I didn’t know I was ranked nationally.”
Davis said she is more interested in how the team performs, particularly in the upcoming tournament.
“I am not worried about stats; I am more concerned about if we play well and win the championship,” Davis said.
Senior Brittany Senator played in goal in the second half and completed the shutout.
The Gorloks face Greenville College in a first-round matchup on Nov. 3 at the Soccer Park at a time to be announced. If Webster wins that game, it will face the winner of the Principia College-Fontbonne University game on Nov. 5.
“Greenville is going to come at us hard and go for blood, because we beat them before,” Montgomery said. “We know we can beat them though, and then play Principia.”
Davis said she expects a tough game from Greenville. Webster slipped by the Panthers 2-1 on a rain-soaked turf field at the Soccer Park on Oct. 19. Rain is once again in the forecast for Thursday’s semifinal game.
“If it rains, we will play on the turf and that will speed the game up,” Davis said. “There is nothing to stop the ball from rolling, but it’s the same for both teams.”
If the Gorloks beat Greenville, they will most likely face Principia for the championship. Principia defeated the Gorloks 2-1 on Oct. 22, which secured the SLIAC regular-season championship for the Panthers.
“We have no doubt we will beat Greenville this week and then play Principia for the championship,” Aubuchon said. “We should have beaten Principia the last time we played them. This time we will be ready.”
Webster finished the regular season at 7-1 in the SLIAC and had a 12-5-1 overall record. Montgomery said the drive for a title has just begun.
“We are confident and we will be ready for the tournament, starting with Greenville,” Montgomery said. “We are going for the championship.”
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