2011 Men's Socer Tournament Preview
ST. LOUIS - The field is set for the 2011 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Men's Soccer Tournament. Westminster College (Mo.), Fontbonne University, Greenville College and Webster University will all battle for the tournament crown, as semifinal action kicks off on Wednesday, November 2. The championship game is slated for this Saturday, November 5.
Top-seeded Westminster will host fourth-seeded Webster at 6:00pm on Wednesday, marking only the second time in program history that the Blue Jays have hosted a SLIAC Tournament game. Westminster (11-3-4) went undefeated at 7-0-1 and won their second regular season conference championship. Webster (7-8-2) finished 4-3-1 in league play with a win on the last day of SLIAC play that qualified them for the Conference Tournament. Westminster slipped by Webster 1-0 in its October 25 league contest in St. Louis.
Fontbonne is seeded second in this year's Tournament and will host third-seeded Greenville at 7:30pm on Wednesday, in what will be a rematch of last year's SLIAC Tournament Championship. Fontbonne (11-5-2) posted a 6-1-1 record in the SLIAC this season, with their lone loss a 1-0 defeat to Greenville on October 22. Greenville (11-6-3) went 6-2-0 in conference play, losing their final conference game 3-1 to Principia College on October 25. The Panthers' other loss was to Westminster, 1-0, on October 8.
Westminster is 1-11 in 11 SLIAC men's soccer tournament appearances, with its only tournament win in 2004 with a 2-0 victory over Greenville. The Blue Jays went on to lose to Fontbonne in the tournament final, 3-1.
Fontbonne is 15-10-2 in 15 SLIAC men's soccer tournament appearances. The Griffins have played for the Tournament Championship in five of the past seven years and won the Tournament Championship in 2004 as the #1 seed and in 2006 as the #4 seed. Fontbonne played two double overtime games in the 2010 SLIAC Tournament; they defeated Principia 1-0 in the semifinal game and battled Greenville to a 2-2 draw in the championship.
Greenville is 7-8-2 in 10 SLIAC men's soccer tournament appearances. The Panthers, who are the defending Conference Tournament Champions, won back-to-back regular season conference championships in 2009 and 2010. Greenville has also played for the Tournament Championship in five of the past seven years and won the Tournament Championship in 2008 as the #2 seed and in 2010 as the #1 seed. After battling Fontbonne to a 2-2 draw in double overtime last season, the Panthers were crowned Tournament champions after edging the Griffins 7-6 in penalty kicks.
Webster is 13-11-0 in 14 SLIAC men's soccer tournament appearances. The Gorloks have claimed three SLIAC Tournament championships, with their last one in 2009 as the #2 seed. Webster was the #4 seed in last year's tournament and lost to top-seeded Greenville, 2-0, in the semifinal round.
SLIAC Men's Tournament Bracket:
Semifinals (Nov. 2)
#4-Webster at #1-Westminster, 6:00pm
#3-Greenville at #2-Fontbonne, 7:30pm
Championship (Nov. 5)
Semifinal winners, Site and Time TBA
The four coaches representing this year's tournament field participated in a live chat earlier this week. An archive of the chat is available here.
