THE RESULT
#RV Saint Louis 5, Rhode Island 0
Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023 | 1 p.m. EDT
URI Soccer Complex | Kingston, R.I.
 
GAME DETAILS
•Five different players scored a goal, 10 different players registered a point, and Saint Louis clinched a top-four spot for the conference tournament with a 5-0 Atlantic 10 Conference victory over Rhode Island Sunday afternoon at URI Soccer Complex.
•SLU (12-2-2, 7-0-1 A-10) remained in first place in the A-10, leading La Salle and Dayton by a point. The Billikens are assured of hosting an A-10 Championship quarterfinal game, which will be played Friday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m.
•Saint Louis also stretched its winning streak and shutout streak to five games and its unbeaten streak to 11 games (9-0-2).
•Rhode Island, which entered the game having allowed only 12 goals all season, fell to 3-7-6, 3-2-3.
•The Bills led 2-0 at halftime on goals by Emily Gaebe (Emily Groark assist) in the 10th minute and Alyssa Bockius (Izzy Luebbert) in the 34th minute.
•Caroline Kelly (Hannah Larson, Sophia Stram) made it 3-0 in the 60th minute. Abbie Miller (Katie Houck) and Hannah Sawyer (Groark) provided additional insurance in the 66th minute and 85th minute, respectively.
•Emily Puricelli and Becca Wolterman each recorded a save, combining on the Billikens' ninth shutout of the season overall and seventh in eight conference matches.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
Emily Gaebe (Emily Groark), 9:04, SLU 1-0; Alyssa Bockius (Izzy Luebbert), 33:03, SLU 2-0; Caroline Kelly (Hannah Larson, Sophia Stram), 59:12, SLU 3-0; Abbie Miller (Katie Houck), 65:38, SLU 4-0; Hannah Sawyer (Emily Groark), 84:16, SLU 5-0
 
BILLIKEN NOTABLES
•The Billikens increased their series lead over Rhode Island to 15-3.
•Saint Louis has scored 15 goals over its last three games, the most for the Billikens in a three-game stretch of Atlantic 10 Conference play since SLU joined the league in 2005.
•The Billikens have outscored their opponents 32-5 in the second half this season.
•Saint Louis earned advantages of 35-5 in total shots, 16-2 in shots on goal and 8-1 in corner kicks. The 35 shots and 16 shots on goal are team season highs. Emily Gaebe and Caroline Kelly matched their career highs with eight shots apiece, and both moved up a spot on SLU's career shots list (Gaebe seventh with 181, Kelly ninth with 166).
•Four of the Billikens' five goals were produced by new player combinations. Saint Louis has 40 assisted goals this year, produced by 36 different player combos.
•Alyssa Bockius became the 17th Billiken to score a goal this season with her first career marker.
•With her career-high and team-high third game-winning goal of the season, Emily Gaebe extended her point-scoring streak to seven games. Gaebe has 18 points (7G, 4A) during the streak.
•Gaebe also equaled her career bests of nine goals and 24 points – both tops in the A-10 – set in 2022, and she moved into a sixth-place tie with Maureen Hughes and Dee Guempel on SLU's career goals list (25).
•Emily Groark collected the 16th and 17th assists of her Saint Louis career, moving into a 10th-place tie on the Billiken chart. She has four helpers this season. Groark's game-winning assist was her seventh, tying Jenny Kehl for seventh place all-time at SLU.
•Abbie Miller's goal was her third of the season and 23rd of her career, giving her sole possession of 10th place all-time at Saint Louis. Miller played her 100th game as a Billiken, good for third place on SLU's career list and just one behind second-place Brionna Halverson.
•Caroline Kelly tallied her eighth goal of the season.
•Hannah Sawyer's goal was her career-high sixth of the year. Sawyer had a career-high seven shots.
•Emily Puricelli posted her 60th career victory in goal.
•Hannah Larson collected her league-leading seventh assist of the year.
•Izzy Luebbert now has six assists on the season after notching her fourth helper in the last three games.
•Sophia Stram and Katie Houck chipped in their third and second assists, respectively, of 2023.
 
SAINT LOUIS STARTERS
Emily Puricelli, Anna Lawler, Emily Groark, Caroline Kelly, Hannah Larson, Katie Houck, Abbie Miller, Izzy Luebbert, Emily Gaebe, Lyndsey Heckel, Sophia Stram
 
SAINT LOUIS SUBSTITUTES
Becca Wolterman, Hannah Sawyer, Jess Preusser, Julia Simon, Jordan Gary, Eva Schreiber, Macy Lutz, Katelyn Brinkman, Alyssa Bockius
 
UP NEXT
The Billikens host Duquesne in their final regular-season home game Thursday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m.