FENTON, Mo. - Webster University saw its COVID-19 delayed 2020-21 season end here Wednesday evening in the semifinal round of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Tournament following a physical and hard-fought 2-1 setback to No. 3 seeded Westminster College at World Wide Technology Soccer Park.

With the setback, the defending SLIAC Tournament champion and No. 2 seeded Gorloks saw their 2020-21 season conclude with a 7-4 overall record, while Westminster improved to 9-3 and advances to Saturday's tournament championship match at top-seeded and regular season SLIAC champion Fontbonne University.

It appeared that Wednesday's match would be headed to overtime with the match tied at 1-all, until 1:35 left in the game as Webster sophomore defender Reaghan Young (Naperville, Ill./Nequa Valley) was called for a foul on Westminster's Natalie Schulte that appeared to be outside of the box, but after the officials on the field conferred, it was determined that Young's foul was inside the box and Westminster was awarded a penalty kick. 

The Blue Jays' Maddy Lawton would connect on that penalty kick to give Westminster a 2-1 lead and that goal by Lawton sealed the win for the Blue Jays. 

"It was a physical and draining game tonight. They went out there tonight and gave it their all on both sides of the ball," Webster head coach Luigi Scire said following the match. "The game was fast paced and played aggressively. The defense played extremely well and the offense was dangerous. I am so proud of their effort tonight."

Lawton's penalty kick was the only goal of the match in the second half as the two teams combined for 27 shots after halftime as Webster finished the game with a 28-16 edge in shots for the match. Webster outshot the Blue Jays, 17-10, in the second half.

Junior forward Jordan Lande (Sachse, Texas/Sachse) had a chance to give the Gorloks a lead in the 69th minute of the match, but Westminster goalkeeper Megan Davidson made a save on the shot to keep the match tied. About 10 minutes earlier in the game, Young looked like she was going to score a goal, but Davidson made another big save to keep the match knotted. 

On the night, Davidson (7-3-0) made 10 saves, including six in the first half against a Gorlok offense that put 11 shots on goal.

Westminster, who returns to the title game for the first time since winning the championship in 2018, got on the scoreboard first in Thursday's match as Rachel Nolte took a touch pass from Schulte and connected from 18 yards out just a little over seven minutes into the contest.

About seven minutes later, the Gorloks would tie the match as senior midfielder Payton Williams (St. Louis, Mo./Fort Zumwalt East) connected on a shot from 25 yards out following a throw in by sophomore defender Keri Voegtle (Imperial, Mo./Windsor). The goal by Williams was her sixth of the season. 

Williams appeared to be headed to her second goal on the night in the 37th minute as she put a shot on target, but Davidson dove at the right moment to stop the ball from going into the net and keep the match tied. 

Freshman forward Jennifer Munger (Loganville, Ga./Grayson) led Webster with eight shots, including two shots on goal, while Williams closed her career with seven shots, including five shots on goal. 

Webster's defense on Wednesday, which was anchored this season by Young and junior defender Ryleigh Grommet (Rolla, Mo./Rolla), held Westminster's Schulte with a goal as she entered the match tied for the league lead in goals with 10. Schulte was pressured all night by Young and Grommet and was never able to get a lot of good looks at the goal.

Schulte did take six shots and put one shot on goal for the match, while Nolte took three shots for the Blue Jays. Kelsey Gordan and Lawton each took two shots on the night. 

Webster sophomore goalkeeper Taryn Banfield (Plano, Texas/Plano East) faced six shots and made four saves in 90 minutes of action, while allowing two goals, with one of the those goals being a penalty kick. Banfield fell to 4-3-0 on the year with loss in goal. 

The Gorloks, who fell to 21-6-3 all-time in the SLIAC Tournament with Wednesday's loss, finishing the season allowing just 13 goals in 11 matches, but just six goals over its final nine matches of the year after allowing six goals in its first two matches. In addition, Webster also posted four shutouts on the season, including three in SLIAC matches.