Greenville, Spalding Outlast Quarterfinals Opponents
The opening round of the 2021 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Soccer team gave fans extra soccer, with both games going into overtime. At the end of the night, it was the two higher seeds that outlast their opponents, fending off any upsets in the quarterfinals. #3 Greenville University defeated #6 Principia College 1-0 in overtime while #4 Spalding University tied #5 Westminster College, advancing 4-3 on penalty kicks.
Quarterfinal Game - #3 Greenville defeated #6 Principia, 1-0 OT BOX SCORE
Looking for its first postseason win since 2014, the final seed in this year's tournament gave Greenville all they could handle on Tuesday night. Principia was outscored 8-1 in two regular-season games against Greenville this fall but freshman keeper Leslie Barrera kept her team in the game, stopping 10 shots in the game. Greenville got outshot Principia 25-6 in the game and was unable to push the ball past Barrera until mid-way through the first overtime period. That was when Samantha De La Cruz ended the game, in the 97th minute, propelling Greenville to the semifinals.
Quarterfinal Game - #4 Spalding tied #5 Westminster College, 1-1 (SU advances 4-3 on PK) BOXSCORE
For the first time since 2018, a tournament game was decided in penalty kicks. Spalding and Westminster traded goals in regulation before heading to extra time. Dori Emig put the Golden Eagles on the board in the 39th minute off a corner kick but just eight minutes into the second-half Lauren Halamicek made the score even with her 6th goal of the season. Neither team did much in the overtime periods, with just a total of 4 shots from both teams. The two teams matched each other for the first six PK attempts. Kara Krueger converted on Spalding's 7th attempt, putting pressure on the Blue Jays who failed to keep the shootout going with a miss with Spalding advancing 4-3.
Next Up
Greenville will now face second-seeded Webster University on Thursday, November 4 at 5 p.m. in St. Louis, Mo. Spalding will be up against top-seeded Fontbonne University at 7:30 in St. Louis, Mo. the same night. All games are played at the higher seeds home site.
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