The Webster University Women’s Soccer team staged its team photo for the third year in row as St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champions. The score read 3-1 behind the team on the video board at Soccer Park in favor of the Gorloks over Principia College after the Nov. 7 championship game.
Webster took a 2-1 lead in the 52 minute off a corner kick, a set piece that the Gorloks struggled with in the semifinal. The team failed to score off of 12 attempts in that game.
But in Friday’s game defender Ashley Mess stepped up and got her head to the Lindsey Adshade cross. Mess’s header was an arching attempt that came down just below the cross bar into a battle between the hands of the Principia keeper and the head of Webster forward Kristin Montgomery. The ball eluded the keeper’s gloves and narrowly crossed the goal line for Mess’s fourth goal of the season and third career postseason goal.
Mess and the defense allowed one goal tonight, bringing the total to just three goals against in Webster’s last 10 games. And in the title game, the defense was without senior defender and 2014 SLIAC Defensive Player of the Year, Amy Schield. Schield was a game time decision with a deltoid injury after multiple collisions in the SLIAC Semi-final game, was unable to play.
Schield said she didn’t make the decision easy on Webster Trainer Martin Fields to keep her off the field, but was impressed by her replacement, Freshman Sydney Tedesco.
“Stepping up as a freshman is just a big thing,” Schield said. “The girls she marked were changing in-and-out the whole time so she did a fantastic job to play that position.”
This was Tedesco’s first start of the season, and she played the full 90 minutes. She was one of four freshman to start the championship game for Webster, with defender Elena Bloma, midfielder Briana Pagan and forward Kayla Dye. Bloma, Pagan and Dye, though, have all started at least 15 games this year.
“I wish I distributed the ball a little better, but I think I did well and ran through each tackle,” Tedesco said. “(Pagan, Dye and Bloma) are just beasts out there.”
Montgomery continued her points-streak to a tenth game with two goals in the game. The first was a looping header into the top right corner off a cross from Lauren Pratt. It was Pratt’s ninth straight game with a point and added to the chemistry of Pratt and Montgomery at the forward position. Montgomery was named the SLIAC Tournament MVP with three goals in the two games.
After the game, SLIAC individual awards were handed out, which Webster dominated. Webster earned a total of 13 individual awards, including more than half of the all-conference first team spots. The full list can be viewed here.
With the win, Webster will advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament, and will found out its seed and opponent at 1 p.m. on Monday Nov. 10.
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