Posted: Nov 04, 2014

2014 SLIAC Men's Soccer Tournament Preview

The 2014 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament will get under way this weekend and features three familiar faces and one program making their post-season debut. Fontbonne University, Webster University, and Westminster College have each made the tournament in each of the last three years while Spalding University will be playing in the program's first SLIAC tournament.

The 2014 Tournament
Webster University will be the top seed in the tournament and face #4 seed Fontbonne University. The other semifinals game will pit #2 seed Westminster against #3 seed Spalding. Both semifinals games will be played at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 6. The Webster and Fontbonne game will be played at Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo. while the Westminster and Spalding game will be played on the campus of Westminster in Fulton, Mo. The 2014 SLIAC Championship game will be held Saturday, November 8 at 1 p.m. at the highest remaining seed's host site.

Tournament Tidbits

Fontbonne is making their 19th trip to the SLIAC tournament, holding a 15-13-2 all-time record.
Fontbonne has won four tournament titles with the last coming in the 2006 season.
Fontbonne went 0-3 against this year's tournament field.
Spalding will be appearing in the SLIAC Tournament for the first time since joining the SLIAC three years ago.
Spalding was 1-1-1 this year against the SLIAC tournament field.
Webster is making their 18th appearance in the SLIAC Tournament, with a 17-13 all-time record.
Webster has won four titles with their last championship coming in 2012.
Webster was a perfect 3-0 against the SLIAC Tournament field this year.
Westminster will be playing in their 15th SLIAC Tournament, having gone 4-14 all-time in the tournament.
Westminster captured the program's first tournament title last year.
Westminster was 1-1-1 against the tournament field this year.

#1 Webster University Gorloks
Webster secured the top spot in the tournament with an 8-0-1 conference record while going 10-8-2 overall. Webster was fourth in the conference in scoring this year with 50 goals put have an up-tempo attack, with a league high 99 corner kicks. The Gorloks have won four straight games coming into the tournament and have shutout their last six opponents. The Gorloks have a balanced attack with eight players scoring three or more goals this year. The duo of Dzani Delic and Mike Wells have teamed up to score 14 goals while Wells also leads the team with 10 assists. In net the Gorloks are led by Ian McReynolds who has recorded 24 saves with a 1.32 goals-against average in over 1000-minutes of action.

#2 Westminster College Blue Jays
Westminster was 9-7-1 overall and 7-1-1 in the SLIAC this year as they are appearing in their fourth straight SLIAC Tournament. The Blue Jays come into the tournament having won three straight games will be looking to repeat their impressive late season push last year in which they ran through the SLIAC Tournament to capture the title. The Blue Jays had the second best goal differential in the league this year and finished third in the conference in goals with 51. Youth abounds for the Blue Jays as their top four scorers are either sophomores or freshmen. Freshman Dusin Seibolt has made an immediate impact with a team leading eight goals while sophomore Tripp Sheehan led the SLIAC in assists with 11 and added six goals. In net the Blue Jays return last season's tournament standout Raul Belman Romero. Romero finished with a 1.14 goals-against average and 50 saves in 1500-minutes of action with five shutouts.

#3 Spalding University Golden Eagles
Spalding finished with the most wins in the SLIAC this year going 12-5-1 overall and went 6-2-1 in conference play. The Golden Eagles put away teams often this year with the best goal differential in the league at +48. The high scoring Golden Eagles, who netted 65 goals this season, have won four straight games coming into the tournament. Aden Abdirahman leads the team with 13 goals while fellow forward Abdullahi Abdullahi added eight goals. Julio De Leon was once again among the conference leaders in assists, finishing with 10 assists; his third consecutive year with double digit assists. The Golden Eagles defense should not be overlooked either, allowing just 17 goals this season. In goal Logan Spencer has been a force with a 0.96 goals against average and 46 saves in over 1200-minutes of action. His .780 save percentage is second best in the league while he added four shutouts.

#4 Fontbonne University Griffins
Fontbonne was 7-13 overall this season earning the fourth seed in the tournament by virtue of a tiebreaker after going 6-3 in the SLIAC. After winning their first six conference games the Griffins are limping into the tournament having lost their last three games, all to teams in the tournament field. Fontbonne finished sixth in the league in goals with 46 and tied for sixth in goals allowed with 27. Alex Phillips leads the Griffins in scoring with nine goals while Tim Menzel finished with eight goals and seven assists during the regular season. In net Fontbonne is led by Joey Mirth. Mirth finished with a 1.51 goals-against average with 80 saves in over 1600-minutes of action.

December 2, 2015