#8 Chicago Eliminates Webster

The Webster University women's soccer team lost in the first round of the NCAA III Championships, 6-0, to the University of Chicago, on November 12 in Chicago, IL.  The #8 ranked nationally Maroon, with one of the top defenses in the country, was able to stifle the Gorloks' potent offense to secure the win.

The Gorloks had advanced to their 12th NCAA appearance, in 18 seasons of play, after downing Fontbonne University for the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship.  The Chicago Maroon (16-3) was ranked eighth nationally by the NSCAA and second in the Central Region, after finishing second in the competitive University Athletic Association conference. 

The Gorloks came close to getting on the board first when forward Kayla Dye (JR, St. Louis, MO/Windsor) got off a shot that was saved by the Maroon goalie at 8:10.  One minute later, it looked like Chicago may have scored the game's first goal.  A Maroon shot in the Webster box richoted off a Gorlok defender right back to a Chicago forward, who fired it by Webster goalie Alisa Coralic (SO, St. Louis, MO/Mehlville).  But the play was ruled offsides and the goal was nullified.

A through pass by Chicago caught a Maroon on the fly just to the left of the Webster goal box and she slipped it by Coralic for the first goal of the contest at 17:21.  A chip into the Webster box by Chicago was one-timed by a Maroon into the goal for a 2-0 Chicago lead at 23:10.  Chicago padded its lead with a pass from outside the right side of the box, to a forward at the top of the Webster goal box, who scored the Maroon's third goal at 40:07.  The teams headed into halftime with Chicago up, 3-0.

The Maroon added tallies at 64:06, 67:10, and 88:24 in the second half for the 6-0 final.  Aly Miller (FR, Middleville, MI/Thornapple) took over in goal in the second half.  Coralic would wind up making four saves and taking the loss for the game, finishing the season at 4-3.  Miller made seven saves in the second half.

Webster's Elena Bloma (JR, St. Louis, MO/Eureka), the SLIAC Defensive Player of the Year, had to leave the game five minutes into the contest when she was hit in the head with a clearing kick.  She was able to return to the game at the 21:00 mark after being cleared by the Webster training staff.

The Gorloks (13-8) were ranked eighth in the most recent NSCAA Central Region poll and had won six straight games going into the tournament..  This was the third meeting in NCAA play for the Gorloks and the Maroon. Chicago defeated Webster 3-0 in 2003 and won 1-0 in the Gorloks' last NCAA appearance in 2014.

Webster said goodbye to three seniors who played their final game for the Gorloks.  Kelli Cardine (Chicago, IL/DeKalb), Alli Ferguson (Highland, MO/Highland), and Jodi Kaiping (Waterloo, IL/Waterloo) ended their careers for Webster.  Ferguson was the SLIAC Offensive Player of the Year.

Chicago will face the winner of the Augsburg College (MN)/Milwaukee School of Engineering (WI) contest for the regional title on Sunday, November 13.

STORY COURTESY OF WEBSTER UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION