THE RESULT
#21 Saint Louis 3, La Salle 0
Atlantic 10 Championship Final
Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023 | Noon
Hermann Stadium | St. Louis, Mo.
 
GAME DETAILS
•Tournament Most Outstanding Player Caroline Kelly tallied two goals and an assist to lead top-seeded and 21st-ranked Saint Louis to a 3-0 victory over La Salle Sunday afternoon at Hermann Stadium in the Atlantic 10 Conference Women's Soccer Championship final.
•The Billikens (17-2-2) captured the eighth A-10 Championship title in program history and sixth in succession, and with it the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, which starts Friday, Nov. 10. SLU will learn its first-round opponent during Monday's NCAA Selection Show, which will be streamed on NCAA.com at 3 p.m. Central.
•Saint Louis extended its winning streak and shutout streak to 10 games and its unbeaten streak to 16 games (14-0-2). The winning streak is the nation's second-longest current streak.
•La Salle, the tournament's No. 2 seed, finished the season 12-6-3.
•Goalkeeper Emily Puricelli recorded her 39th career shutout to claim the Billikens' record outright. The clean sheet was her 10th of the season.
•Abbie Miller played in her 105th game as a Billiken, tying Hannah Friedrich (2018-22) for the school record.
•Kelly put the Bills ahead for good in the 14th minute with an assist from Emily Gaebe, whose shot was saved by La Salle goalkeeper Michela Auguadro. The ball bounced off the far post to Kelly, who tapped it in from close range.
•Gaebe extended her school-record goals total to 15 in the 28th minute, firing from just inside the box with assists from Kelly and Anna Lawler.
•Kelly, assisted by Hannah Larson, closed the scoring with her 12th goal of the year in the 57th minute. Larson dribbled in from the left side and split two defenders with a pass that Kelly put away, giving her a fourth career brace and second this season.
•Kelly was joined on the 11-player All-Tournament team by Puricelli, Gaebe, Larson, Lyndsey Heckel and Hannah Sawyer.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
Caroline Kelly (Emily Gaebe), 13:03, SLU 1-0; Emily Gaebe (Caroline Kelly, Anna Lawler), 27:50, SLU 2-0; Caroline Kelly (Hannah Larson), 56:12, SLU 3-0
 
BILLIKEN NOTABLES
•The Billikens improved to 23-5-1 in A-10 Championship play overall and 8-0 in tournament finals. They improved their records vs. La Salle to 8-2-3 overall, including a current six-game winning streak vs. the Explorers, and 6-2-2 at Hermann Stadium.
•Since 2016, SLU is 50-1-2 vs. A-10 opponents (regular season and tournament combined) at Hermann Stadium.
•Against all opponents, the Bills are 71-8-7 with 55 shutouts in their last 86 games at Hermann.
•Saint Louis extended its school records for consecutive shutouts (10) and consecutive shutout minutes (920:31).
•SLU set school single-season records for goals (67), assists (65) and points (199).
•With their 14th shutout of the year, the Billikens are one shy of matching the school record.
•The Billikens allowed just one goal in 13 games (10 regular season, three tournament) vs. A-10 opponents this season.
•With their three combined goals on Sunday, Emily Gaebe (15) and Caroline Kelly (12) became the most prolific goal-scoring tandem for a single season in Billiken women's soccer history.
•Gaebe and Kelly are now tied with Hannah Friedrich (2018-22) for second place on the Saint Louis career goals list with 31 apiece. Gaebe moved into a fourth-place tie in career points (78), while Kelly moved up to seventh on the points list (75).
•Hannah Larson's assist was her team-high-tying eighth of the season. Gaebe collected her seventh assist, Kelly her fifth and Anna Lawler her third.
•In addition to setting the school record for career shutouts, Emily Puricelli registered her 65th career victory to extend her school mark. Puricelli made her 83rd career start, tying for fourth place in Billiken history, and her 83 games played are tied for ninth.
•Lyndsey Heckel (82) and Abbie Miller (81) are now sixth and tied for seventh, respectively, on SLU's career list for games started.
 
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
Hannah Sawyer, Jess Preusser, Julia Simon, Jordan Gary, Eva Schreiber, Macy Lutz, Clare Nicholas, Alyssa Bockius