#3 Greenville, #1 Principia Advance to Women's Soccer Tournament Championship
ST. LOUIS - Third-seeded Greenville College and top-seeded Principia College advance to the 2011 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Women's Soccer Tournament Championship after winning their respective semifinal games. Greenville defeated #2 Webster University, 2-1, while Principia shutout #4 Fontbonne University, 3-0.
Greenville will travel to Principia this Saturday, November 5, for a rematch of last year's tournament championship. Game time has yet to be determined.
After a scoreless first half in which Webster outshot Greenville 6-0, the Gorloks took a 1-0 lead just 14 minutes into the second half. Lindsey Owens found the back of the net for her third goal of the season, while teammate Amanda Zeier tallied the assist. Greenville answered less than 10 minutes later with a goal by Natalie Henneberry, her 18th of the season. The Gorlok defense had trouble clearing balls two different times and the Panthers took advantage with Henneberry's goal and then a goal by Rachel Irwin in the 76th minute that would ultimately be the game-winner.
Greenville goalkeeper, Heidi Koehl, improved to 7-2 with the win. She recorded a total of four saves for the game. Webster's Brittany Senator and Jessica Davis split time in goal. Davis tallied one save and fell to 2-2-1 with the loss.
Greenville's victory was only its second in 20 tries against Webster, dating back to 1999. The Panthers only other victory versus the Gorloks occured in 2008.
Principia took control early on their home field, scoring back-to-back goals in the 12th and 14th minutes to take a 2-0 lead. Nadine Marczi scored both goals early on, with the first one on a cross from Carlie Sanderude and the second inside the 18 on a pass from teammate Kristen Crandall. Principia scored another security goal just 30 seconds before halftime, when Hayley MacWilliams found the back of the net from the top of the 18. Principia would remain scoreless in the second half, but they did finish with a 25-1 shot advantage for the game, including 13-0 in the second half.
Fontbonne's Kaniz Abbas played the entire 90:00 minutes in goal and made a total of three saves. Principia's Murilla King and Torie DeNicholas split time in goal and shared the shutout.
Contributions by Webster University sports information
