The Webster University men's soccer team picked the perfect time to turn the tables as it defeated #1 seeded Westminster College, 1-0, in Fulton, MO, on November 2 in the first round of the SLIAC Tournament. The Gorloks had lost 1-0 to the first, second, and third place finishers in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference during the regular season, finding themselves barely in fourth and scratching their way into the tournament.
One of those 1-0 losses was to the Blue Jays on October 25, at the Soccer Park, leaving little breathing room for Webster to grab the fourth spot. The Gorloks proved they were tournament-worthy, coming away with a victory on the road against a Westminster team that was undefeated in conference and was 11-3-4 overall. The two teams were fairly evenly matched in the first half, but Webster was able to breakthrough at 34:44, when Clint Carder (SR, DeSoto HS, MO) scored off a cross from freshman Jeff Wallner (Eureka HS), giving the Gorloks a 1-0 lead.
Minutes into the second half, Westminster thought it had tied the game on a flick right in front of the Webster goal, but the play was ruled a foul as the Blue Jay forward had contact with Webster goalie Alex Cupp (SR, Lutheran South HS). The Gorlok defense and Cupp made sure that was the Blue Jays best chance to score, with Cupp making several saves and Webster defenders blocking a couple shots as well to preserve the shutout.
Cupp, coming off his third SLIAC Defensive Soccer Player of the Week award for 2011, picked up his fourth shutout of the season and lowered his goals against average to 0.88. Carder, the offensive star, was coming off his second SLIAC Offensive Soccer Player of the Week award for 2011. The goal was his team-leading seventh on the year.
The Gorloks evened their season record at 8-8-2 and will face Greenville College (IL), a 1-0 winner themselves over Fontbonne University, leaving the #s 3 & 4 seeds to square off for the championship. The game will be played at Greenville on November 5, at a time TBD. Stay tuned to websterathletics.com and sliac.org for further details.
