2011 Women's Soccer Tournament Preview

ST. LOUIS - Principia College's women's soccer team claimed their fifth consecutive regular season conference championship to earn the #1 seed in the 2011 SLIAC Tournament. The remainder of the field is set with Webster University, Greenville College and Fontbonne University joining Principia in the battle for this year's tournament crown. Semifinal action begins Thursday, November 3, and the championship will be played on Saturday, November 5.

Top-seeded Principia will host fourth-seeded Fontbonne at 7:00pm on Thursday. Principia (14-3-1) went undefeated in conference play at 8-0 this season, marking the fourth consecutive season that they have posted an undefeated mark in SLIAC play. Fontbonne (7-11-0) was 5-3  in the conference, with their three losses at the hands of the top three seeded teams in the tournament, including a 4-1 loss at Principia on October 29.

Second-seeded Webster will host third-seeded Greenville at 3:00pm on Thursday. Webster (12-5-1) went 7-1 in league play, with their lone loss a 2-1 defeat to Principia. Greenville (13-6-0) finished 6-2 in the conference, including a 2-1 loss to Webster on October 19.

Principia is 22-5-3 in 15 SLIAC women's soccer tournament appearances. Principia is the defending tournament champion after defeating Greenville 5-1 in the 2010 championship game. They have also won a women's soccer record eight tournament championships.

Webster is 7-3-3 in seven SLIAC women's soccer tournament appearances. The Gorloks have claimed four tournament championships in the past six years. Their last tournament crown was in 2009 as the #2 seed, when they battled Principia to a 1-1 draw in double overtime. Webster then went on to win the title on penalty kicks, 5-4.

Greenville is 1-8-0 in eight SLIAC women's soccer tournament appearances. Their lone victory came last year when they defeated Fontbonne, 6-1, in a semifinal game to advance to the championship match.

Fontbonne is 5-8-1 in nine SLIAC women's soccer tournament appearances. The Griffins have won one tournament championship in 1996 as the #2 seed. They have also made four conference tournament appearances in the past seven years.

SLIAC Women's Tournament Bracket:
Semifinals (Nov. 3)
#3-Greenville at #2-Webster, 3:00pm
#4-Fontbonne at #1-Principia, 7:00pm
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.