WEBSTER GROVES – Webster University is set to begin its quest for a third consecutive St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Tournament championship on Wednesday, Oct. 31 as the SLIAC regular season champion Gorloks host No. 4 seeded Greenville University (13-5-1 overall, 6-2-1 SLIAC) in a 6 p.m. semifinal match of the SLIAC Tournament at World Wide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo.
The Gorloks, who earned the top seed in the SLIAC Tournament after posting a 3-0 win last Saturday at home against Fontbonne to finish undefeated in league play for the third consecutive season, come into the postseason having won nine consecutive matches and is sporting a 16-2-1 overall record and went 9-0 in league play. The regular season title was the seventh consecutive and 14th overall for the Gorloks.
For the second consecutive season, the SLIAC Tournament will feature the exact same teams as the four teams that qualified this season also played in last year's tournament that Webster. Webster won its second straight SLIAC Tournament a season ago as they posted a 1-0 win at Soccer Park against Fontbonne in the championship match to claim the SLIAC title and the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Tournament.
The only difference between this year's tournament field and last season's field are the seeds as Westminster was the No. 4 seed in 2017, while Greenville was the No. 3 seed, but this season, Westminster in the No. 3 seed and Greenville is seeded fourth. Wednesday's other tournament semifinal will match No. 2 seed Fontbonne (11-6-1 overall, 8-1-0 SLIAC) hosting No. 3 seed Westminster (10-4-2 overall, 6-2-1 SLIAC) at 7:30 p.m.
Webster, who has won five of the last six SLIAC Tournament titles and nine overall tournament titles, enters the tournament as a slight favorite as they lead the league in scoring offense (4.53 goals per game), assists per game (4.32), points per game (13.37) and shots per game (27.05) and is second in fewest goals allowed as they allowed just 14 goals in 19 matches, including allowing just two goals in league play, both of which came on penalty kicks.
Leading the way for the Gorloks offensive duo of junior forward
Melissa Kasper (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) and senior
Nicole Bascio (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland). That duo has combined for 32 goals, 25 assists, 89 points and 116 shots in 19 matches. Kasper, who is one of 25 active Division III players that have scored 30 career goals and had 20 career assists, leads the league in goals (17), assists (18) and points (52) and is fifth in shots (65), while Bascio is fifth in the league in goals (15), tied for eighth in assists (7), fourth in points (37) and is ninth in shots (37) and leads the league in game winning goals with six, which is two shy of the school's single season record of eight held by both Niki Martinez (2001) and Mary Jo Clark (2000).
Kasper, who was named the SLIAC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 1, enters Wednesday's match with Greenville needing one more assist to set a new single season school mark for assists as she is currently tied for the school's single season lead with Becki Wideman, who had 18 assists during the 2000 season. In addition, Kasper is also eighth on the single season chart in points (52) and 12th in single season goals (17). During the recently completed conference season, Kasper scored at least a point in all nine matches as she had 12 goals and 14 assists for a total of 38 points in SLIAC play and tallied hat tricks against both MacMurray and Iowa Wesleyan.
Meanwhile, Bascio, who was a two-time SLIAC Offensive Player of the Week in 2018, was just as good in conference play as she tallied at least one point in eight of Webster's nine league matches as she was held without a point against Westminster, a match Webster won, 3-1. In nine SLIAC matches, Bascio scored 11 goals and had four assists for a total of 26 points, including tallying a hat trick in WU's 5-0 win over Spalding.
In addition to Bascio and Kasper, junior midfielder
Savannah Page (Sandy, Utah/Sandy) has also scored double digits in goals as she had 10 and is second on the team in shots with 60. Eight of her 10 goals and 37 of her 60 shots came in SLIAC play.
Other key offensive players for the Gorloks are junior midfielder
Olivia Osterhage (Eureka, Mo./Eureka), senior midfielder
Carolyn Ries (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) and sophomore forward
Joi Wilson (Tracy, Calif./Tracy). Osterhage is second on the team in assists with 17 and has had two or more assists in a match five time this season and has scored 23 points, while Ries has had eight goals and taken 44 shots and Wilson has been Webster's top scoring threat off the bench as she has tallied nine goals and has had five assists for a total of 23 points.
Webster's defense continues to be one to the best in the country as they Gorloks come into the postseason having allowed just 14 goals on the year, including allowing just two goals over its last nine matches. The Gorloks have recorded 11 shutouts this season and since the beginning of last year, Webster has allowed a total of 32 goals in 40 matches and has recorded 21 shutouts.
Two of Webster's key defenders this season have been junior
Lilly Brauer (Belleville, Ill./Belleville East) and freshman
Ryleigh Grommet (Rolla, Mo./Rolla.). Brauer, who was a two-time SLIAC Defensive Player of the Week this season and Grommet are the anchors in the back of Webster's defense that allowed a total of 35 shots in nine conference matches, including holding two teams without a shot, Eureka and Blackburn, during the regular season and limiting nine teams during the season to fewer than 10 shots.
Another key member of Webster's defense has been senior goalkeeper
Alisa Coralic (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville). Coralic, who leads the league in wins (14) and is fourth in goals allowed average (0.98), has posted a 14-2-1 record in net and has recorded a total of nine shutouts, including combining on six shutouts with junior goalkeeper Abby Mercer (Granite City, Ill./Granite City). Coralic, who was named this week's SLIAC Defensive Player of the Week, has recorded 64 saves and has allowed just 14 goals. In her four year career, Coralic is third in career goalie wins (33), fourth in career saves (135) and seventh in career goals allowed average (1.12).
Webster, who is coached by
Luigi Scire, has posted an 18-5-3 all-time record in the SLIAC Tournament, including winning the championship nine times (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017). In addition, Webster has been tournament runners-up three times (2004, 2008 and 2015).
Scire is in his 20th season at the helm of the Gorloks women's soccer team and has posted a 307-89-16 all-time record and became the 32nd coach in NCAA Division III women's soccer history to reach 300 career victories, as well as the 24th to do so with only one school with Webster's 3-1 win on Oct. 3 at Westminster. He is 16th among Division III coaches in career winning percentage and 11th among active coaches and is one of 25 active Division III coaches with 300 wins.
During the regular season, Webster earned a 3-1 win at Greenville. In that match, Ries, Bascio and freshman defender
Chloe Dedic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) scored the Gorloks goals as they outshot the Panthers, 27-7 and Coralic earned the win in net as she played all 90 minutes and had five saves. Greenville's lone goal came on a penalty kick in the 86th minute by Dani Pierce, who is tied for second in the league in scoring with 16 goals.
Wednesday's semifinal winners will meet for the championship on Friday, Nov. 2 at the site of the highest seeded team remaining in the tournament. The championship match is scheduled for 7 p.m.
There will be admission charged for the SLIAC Tournament games as the ticket prices are $5 for adults and $2 for students and children under 16, while children under 5 will be admitted for free. Webster students attending Wednesday's match at Soccer Park between the Gorloks and the Panthers will be admitted for free with a valid Webster student ID.
Along with Webster's league record tying nine tournament titles, Greenville has never won a SLIAC Tournament as the Panthers are 3-13 all-time in the tournament, while Fontbonne won the SLIAC Tournament title in 1996 and is 7-14-1 all-time in the tournament and Westminster won the title in 2015 and is 4-12-3 all-time in the tournament. Westminster's win in 2015 came against Webster as the two teams played to a draw, but the Blue Jays won 5-4 on penalty kicks.
