Griffins With Historic Championship
The Fontbonne University women's soccer team completed its goal for the 2021 season, winning the program's first St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship since 1996. That span, of 20 seasons worth of tournaments, is the longest amount of time between championships for any sport in conference history. The tournament title also means that the Griffins are the first team to go undefeated through both the SLIAC regular season and postseason since 2017.
"We felt the heartbreak of last season in this game. They were determined from the start of the season to get back to the championship and they absolutely deserved to win tonight," said Fontbonne University head coach Dylan Cassidy.
Fontbonne, the top-scoring team in the conference this fall, was held scoreless in the first half by #2 seed Webster University despite outshooting the Gorloks 9-2. Unable to get a first-half goal, the Fontbonne defense did its job and kept the Gorlok attack under wraps and off the board as well.
"Defensively, our team knew what they had to do. Make smart decisions, help each other out with cover, and with Mary Beers behind you, it gives you more confidence," said Cassidy.
Fontbonne's offense finally broke through in the second half, using its speed to get into prime scoring chances.
"We knew we were close to getting a goal in the 1st half, so we focused on more of the same and we knew a goal would eventually come from the pressure," said Cassidy.
That pressure paid off early in the second half. The Griffins worked the ball deep into Gorlok territory, forcing back-to-back corner kicks. The initial corner was too close to the goal line and easily cleared away. With a second try, Krystal Kohenskey played the ball farther out in the box where Rylee Stafford headed home the game's first goal at the 47-minute mark.
The game remained that way until the 72-minute mark when Molly Kovarik broke loose down the left side of the field. Kovarik, the conference's leading scorer, buried her 23rd goal of the season; placing a perfect shot in a narrow opening between the Gorlok keeper and left post. Kovarik used her speed once again, this time to set up her team's third goal. Kovarik raced down the right side of the field this time and played the ball into the box where Kierstyn Weaver tapped the ball into the back of the net for a 3-0 Griffin lead.
Fontbonne held Webster without a shot in the second half, finishing up with a 26-2 edge in shots and 18-3 lead in corner kicks. Fontbonne improves to 15-2-2 overall this season and claims the SLIAC automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
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