ST. LOUIS, MO. – The Spalding women's soccer team defeated the Webster University Gorloks in the semi-final of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) tournament, 3-0. The Golden Eagles moved on to the finals, while the Gorloks saw their season end.
TURNING POINT
The Golden Eagles and Webster were battling it out to begin the first half. At the 16th minute mark, Spalding finally got the best of the Gorloks.
Melaney Frick dribbled through three defenders and made a simple pass to
Faith Rutherford. Rutherford shot it and found the bottom left corner of the goal, giving SU the 1-0 lead. The Gorloks kept the pressure on Spalding the remainder of the half. The Golden Eagles defense and
Jordan Schneider held strong to end the first half, up 1-0.
To begin the second half, SU used their momentum and instantly put the pressure on Webster. At the 47th minute mark, Rutherford received the ball at the 18 yard box. She dribbled past two Gorlok defenders and netted the ball right over the goalkeeper's head. This gave the Golden Eagles a two goal cushion. This wasn't enough for SU, as Spalding kept the pressure on the first seeded opponent. Just two minutes later, Rutherford crossed it into the box and found
Juli Nelson. Nelson finished it off giving the Golden Eagles a 3-0 advantage. Despite Webster firing shot after shot, Schneider kept making saves. The keeper had a career-high 12 saves and earned a shutout. The Golden Eagles went on to win this one, 3-0.
GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES
- Faith Rutherford recorded a brace, grabbing her tenth goal of the season.
- Jordan Schneider had a career-high 12 saves and recorded a shutout.
- Juli Nelson netted her first goal of the season.
- Spalding is headed to the SLIAC finals for the first time in school history.
NEXT FOR SPALDING
Spalding will travel to Greenville University for the SLIAC Championship. This game will be held on Saturday, November 4th at 2 p.m.
