Oct. 29, 2006

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - On Senior Day at Saint Louis pair of freshmen delivered a 2-0 win over Rhode Island in an Atlantic 10 Conference women's soccer match this afternoon at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. The victory secured the No. 2 seed for the Billikens in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, which begins on Thu., Nov. 2, at Hermann Stadium. Freshman Julia Bradenberg buried the game winner in the 76th minute off a feed from senior Courtney Hulcer.

The match was tied 1-1 at intermission, although Saint Louis held a 6-5 edge in shots and had a wide territorial advantage. SLU had the best chance early when senior midfielder Maureen Hughes' through ball put senior midfielder Dee Guempel in alone on Rams keeper Amanda Thomas in the 12th minute, but Thomas snagged Guempel's 16-yard shot. Bills keeper Hannah Koesterer came up big in the 17th minute when Rams junior forward Deb Nelson fought off two SLU defenders to collect a long ball down the right flank and fired an 18 drive, forcing Koesterer to dive to her right for the stop.

URI broke through in the 20th minute when midfielder Dora Larusdottir took a through ball from Becca Fish and beat the charging Koesterer from 15 yards. The Bills continued their persistent pressure, and URI's Thomas juggled but collected Hughes eight-yard header off Courtney Hulcer corner kick. The goalpost saved Thomas in the 43rd minute when SLU junior midfielder Mary Green's bouncing 40-yard shot bounced through the keeper's legs and ricocheted off the left post. Bills freshman midfielder Lauren Bozesky knotted the match with 11 seconds to play in the half as her 15-yard shot from the right side of the URI penalty area eluded Thomas. Green picked up her first point of the year with an assist.

Bradenberg put the Bills on top in the 76th minute. After Hulcer flighted a ball to the top of the URI penalty area, Bradenberg out-maneuvered a Rams defender, collected the ball and slipped a low 16-yard shot to Thomas' left.

Saint Louis (12-3-2, 7-2-0 A-10) ends the regular season tied with Rhode Island for second place in the Atlantic 10 standings. Today's victory gives the Billikens to No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in next week's conference tournament. SLU will play the second semifinal match on Fri., Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m., for a chance to play in the 1 p.m. title game on Sun., Nov. 5.