THE RESULT
Saint Louis 3, Massachusetts 1
Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024 | Noon
Hermann Stadium | St. Louis, Mo.
 
GAME DETAILS
•A goal by tournament Most Outstanding Player Lyndsey Heckel in the 74th minute gave top-seeded Saint Louis the lead, and the Billikens went on to defeat third-seeded Massachusetts 3-1 in the Atlantic 10 Championship final Sunday afternoon at Hermann Stadium.
•With the win, SLU (14-1-6) captured the A-10 Championship title for a seventh consecutive season and earned the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid.
•The Billikens' opponent, site and date for their first-round NCAA match will be announced Monday on the NCAA Tournament Selection Show at 3 p.m. The show will be streamed live on NCAA.com. Saint Louis entered play Sunday ranked 25th in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index.
•Heckel, who earned her second A-10 Championship Most Outstanding Player award (2022), was joined on the All-Tournament team by Emily Gaebe, Katie Houck, Emily Puricelli, Lucie Schwartz and Hannah Larson.
•Heckel's goal, her sixth of the season, came on a corner-kick serve from Houck, who collected her fifth assist of the year.
•Gaebe scored Saint Louis' first (13th minute) and last (90th minute) goals, increasing her league-leading totals to 15 goals and 34 points. Both were assisted by Larson, who now has a team-high six helpers.
•Bella Recinos, assisted by Chandler Pedolzky, netted an equalizer in the 37th minute, and the game was knotted 1-1 at intermission.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
Emily Gaebe (Hannah Larson), 12:21, SLU 1-0; Bella Recinos (Chandler Pedolzky), 36:16, tied 1-1; Lyndsey Heckel (Katie Houck), 73:14, SLU 2-1; Emily Gaebe (Hannah Larson), 89:17, SLU 3-1
 
BILLIKEN NOTABLES
•SLU extended its unbeaten streak to 16 games (12-0-4).
•The Billikens improved to 13-1-3 vs. Massachusetts.
•SLU is 26-5-1 all-time in A-10 Championship games, including a current 20-game winning streak.
•SLU extended its unbeaten streak vs. A-10 opponents (regular season and conference tournament combined) to 42 games.
•The Billikens are 78-9-11 (.852) in their last 98 games at Hermann Stadium. Against A-10 opponents in those 98 games, SLU is 55-1-4.
•Saint Louis out-shot Massachusetts 16-6 overall and 7-3 in shots on goal. Heckel had a game-high four total shots, while gaebe led all players with three shots on frame.
•The Bills earned a 10-5 advantage in corner kicks.
•Heckel, Puricelli and Larson made the All-Tournament team for a fourth time, while Gaebe and Houck earned the honor for a second time.
•Gaebe increased her school-record career totals to 47 goals and 116 points.
•Heckel moved into a third-place tie on the Billikens' all-time list with her 11th career game-winning goal.
•Larson now has 20 career assists, good for eighth place on SLU's all-time chart.
•Puricelli notched her 81st career victory, increasing her school-record total.
 
SAINT LOUIS STARTERS
Emily Puricelli, Lucie Schwartz, Hope Kim, Julia Simon, Eva Schreiber, Hannah Larson, Katie Houck, Emily Gaebe, Lyndsey Heckel, Sophia Stram, Elise Le
 
SAINT LOUIS SUBSTITUTES
Hannah Sawyer, Audrey Smith, Ashley Miller, Rylee Howard, Katelyn Brinkman, Caigan Leonard