For the first time since 2010, the Webster University women’s soccer team and the Principia College Panthers (Ill.) had a regular season match decided by more than one goal. The Gorloks improve to 4-0 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) with a 4-1 victory over the Panthers.
Either Webster or Principia has won the SLIAC tournament since 2004. Gorlok Associate Women’s Head Coach Mike Hutchison said the Principia rivalry is positive because the two consistently win the SLIAC tournament.
“When you’re both fighting for the same thing which is the SLIAC championship, and the automatic berth in the NCAA tournament, everybody plays to their max,” Hutchison said. “That’s what makes it fun.”
Head Coach Luigi Scire said the team’s goal was to shut out all its SLIAC opponents this season. The Gorloks surrendered their first SLIAC goal of the season on a shot from Panther sophomore forward Gabriela Martin.
Six minutes into the match, Webster junior defender Amy Schield charged the net, heading in a corner kick by Lindsey Adshade to give the Gorloks a 1-0 lead. The goal was Schield’s third of the season.
“We’ve been practicing that a little bit and practicing some stuff,” Schield said. “Playing World Cup kind of helped.”
Schield said the rivalry between Principia was like any other SLIAC rivalry such as Greenville College (Ill.), or Fontbonne University.
Junior forward Kristin Montgomery registered her fifth and sixth goals of the season. Montgomery buried two rebounds from shots by teammate and sophomore forward, Lauren Pratt.
“I played (as) the garbage disposal,” Montgomery joked. “They were two great plays off of (Pratt). I just followed the shots, and got lucky.”
Thirty-five minutes into the match, sophomore forward Jessica Mess tallied her third goal of the season off of a breakaway.
“We were coming at them from all angles, and I think they had a difficult time stopping us,” Hutchison said.
Preparing for Fontbonne
The Fontbonne University Griffins are next for the Gorloks. Their match will feature the top two goalies in the SLIAC. Griffins goalkeeper Meggin Werner leads the SLIAC in save percentage, and Gorlok goalkeeper Jessica Davis leads the SLIAC in goals against average. Davis said she doesn’t look at the stats. Her goal every game is to get a shutout. The Griffins and Gorloks are both 4-0 in SLIAC play.
“One of us will still come out undefeated,” Davis said. “As long as we come out to play like we did today, I think it will be a good game.”
The Griffins defeated the Gorloks 1-0 last season in regular season play. Schield said she is still looking for revenge on the regular season loss despite the Gorloks defeating the Griffins in the SLIAC Tournament.
Hutchison expects a tight defensive battle. He said the team who takes advantage of the opportunities to score will have the advantage in the game.
“There’s not going to be a whole lot of shots for both teams,” Hutchison said.
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