Not quite as precarious as the St. Louis Cardinals position as they battled for the wild card spot that led to a World's Championship, the Webster University men's soccer team needed some help to reach the SLIAC post-season tournament, and they did by a hair...or by a feather. First, though, Webster had to beat Blackburn College (IL), which they did 2-0 on October 29.
While the Gorloks were taking care of business at Blackburn, they needed Principia College to lose its final regular season game at home against Fontbonne University, who obliged Webster by beating the Panthers, 2-1, in OT. A tie would have eliminated Webster from the tournament as well. The Griffins had already given the Gorloks life by beating Blackburn three days earlier. A Blackburn win in that contest would have eliminated Webster also, regardless of the outcome of those two teams meeting.
In the game against Blackburn, the action was a bit 'chippy' in the first half with a number of fouls called and a couple of yellow cards issued, but no goals being scored. Just over three minutes into the second half, a Blackburn defender received a red card for picking up his second yellow of the game. The man advantage helped the Gorloks keep the pressure on and Agustin Villalba (JR, American School, Ecuador) slid a pass from Clint Carder (JR, DeSoto HS, MO) into the net at the 68:46 mark.
A second Blackburn player received a red card after the goal was scored, for picking up a second yellow card as well. With a two-man advantage, the Beavers couldn't mount much of an attack and Carder scored an insurance goal at the 81:43 mark. The Beavers weren't done in the card department and took two more red cards in the game's final minutes.
Webster finished at 4-3-1 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and are 7-8-2 overall. They will travel to Westminster College on November 2 for a first-round match-up in the SLIAC Tournament. A win would advance Webster to the championship round to face the winner of the Nov. 2 Greenville College/Fontbonne game. The championship game will take place on November 5th.
