It was a dark Friday afternoon down on South Campus, both literally and metaphorically, as Saint Louis University edged past West Chester University with a single goal that came early on in the first half to shut out the Golden Rams 1-0. Going into this game, the Golden Rams had a record of 8-7 on the season and needed to win its final three games, all critical Atlantic-10 division contests, in order to clinch a playoff berth. Friday’s game showed a lot of intensity and determination emanating from the Golden Rams. The team hustled to the ball and for the most part, had an excellent passing game, but came up short in the end. West Chester had several opportunities to optimize on a play, especially during penalty corners. They had 11 shots on goal total, but Amy Wasserman of Saint Louis stopped all 11 attempts.
The first and only goal of the game came at 13:45 into the first half by Kristen Leuders, No. 6 for Saint Louis. Kristen connected off of a penalty corner, making it the last time the ball would connect with the back of the goal cage Friday afternoon. The first half of the game seemed to be evenly matched. Neither team dominated play, which provided a lot of back and forth action. Saint Louis would take the ball down the field into WCU territory, but the Golden Rams would quickly counter to bring the ball right back into Saint Louis territory.
At the very end of the first half with only one-minute left, the Golden Rams had a great opportunity to tap the ball into the goal off of a side-out. Their attempt, however, was deflected by goalkeeper Amy Wasserman, who actually ended up falling on the ball to prevent it from entering the goal cage. This caused a penalty corner, giving the Golden Rams their last chance in the first half to tie the game. But the ball was just shy of the goal as it rolled past the right side as the buzzer went off signaling the end of the first half. After a ten-minute break at the half, the Golden Rams entered the field with what seemed like newfound confidence and energy. A majority of play during the second half took place down in Saint Louis’s territory. Unfortunately, all attempts at scoring were stunted by Wasserman.
The WCU offense was relentless throughout the entire game, never decreasing their intensity. During the last five minutes of the game, the Golden Rams did a commendable job of holding their heads high and never backing down, trying until the very last second to make that goal.
This loss drops the Golden Rams to 8-8 overall, and 1-4 in the Atlantic-10 division. St. Louis improved to 6-10 overall, and 2-3 in the Atlantic-10.
The Golden Rams will host LaSalle University on South Campus at noon on Saturday afternoon in their last regular game of the season.