Fifth-year Coach Maddi Moon guided the UMSL women’s soccer team to its first Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship. (Photo courtesy of UMSL Athletics)
Women’s Soccer
The University of Missouri–St. Louis women’s soccer team claimed its first-ever Great Lakes Valley Conference championship with a 1-0 victory over third-seeded McKendree on Saturday afternoon at Creve Coeur Soccer Park. Adelaide Green scored the match’s only goal in the 81st minute when she fired a shot from just inside the 18-yard box over the outstretched glove of Bearcats goalkeeper Maicy Mueller. The Tritons protected the lead over the final nine minutes, becoming the first No. 5 seed to win the GLVC title and securing an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Championship tournament. UMSL will be making its first NCAA appearance since 2016 when it knocked off Rockhurst in the opening round before falling to Grand Valley State.
The Tritons learned Monday evening that they will be seeded sixth in the Midwest Regional and will take on No. 3 seed Grand Valley State at 10 a.m. Friday at Maryville University in St. Louis. The winner will face the winner of No. 2 seed Maryville and No. 7 seed McKendree in a second-round match on Sunday afternoon.
UMSL is going into the national tournament with plenty of momentum, riding an 11-match unbeaten streak that has seen the team go 10-0-1. Its last loss came Oct. 4 against Maryville, but it avenged that defeat last Thursday when it played the top-seeded and eighth-ranked Saints to a 1-1 draw in the GLVC semifinals before advancing to Saturday’s final with a 5-4 win in the shootout. Kayley Judy converted the clinching penalty kick to send the Tritons to the GLVC final for the sixth time.
UMSL and McKendree played a back-and-forth first half on Saturday, but the Tritons took control after intermission, mounting sustained pressure and firing 13 shots. The finished the match with an 18-9 advantage in shots, including a 6-2 lead in shots on goal. Goalkeeper Mary Kate Neal wasn’t as challenged as her Bearcats counterpart but made two saves while collecting her 10th shutout of the season. UMSL’s Neal, Judy, Emily Bloomfield and Jaycee Cotton were named to the GLVC All-Tournament team.
Volleyball
The 22nd-ranked Tritons locked up a birth in next weekend’s GLVC Tournament by sweeping matches against Southwest Baptist and Drury at the Mark Twain Athletic Center. UMSL beat the Bearcats 25-17, 26-24, 25-21 on Friday and topped the Panthers 28-26, 25-22, 25-19 Saturday afternoon on Senior Day. Alayna Santel posted a double-double against Southwest Baptist, registering a team-high 13 kills to go along with 12 digs in Friday’s victory as a strong defensive effort limited the Bearcats to a .155 hitting percentage. The defense was even better against Drury, holding the Panthers to .097 hitting. Skylar Weaver had a team-high 32 digs, and Santel added 13 digs and a team-leading 10 kills. Setter Caitlin Bishop finished with a combined 81 assists in the two matches. The Tritons have now won 27th consecutive home matches. They will held to Williamsville, Illinois, for the GLVC Tournament, which begins Friday and runs through Sunday. UMSL (19-7, 8-5 GLVC) is seeded sixth after losing a tiebreaker to Illinois Springfield but winning a tiebreaker with Indianapolis. The Tritons will take on No. 3 seed and three-time defending champion Lewis in a quarterfinal at 8:30 p.m. Friday. They won the only regular-season meeting with the Flyers 18-25, 25-9, 25-22, 25-22 on Oct. 11.
Women’s Basketball
Junior forward Alex Wolff had 17 points, four rebounds and four assists on Friday evening to lead UMSL to a 76-35 rout of the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis at UHSP Gymnasium. Wolff led three Tritons in double figures with Katie Hamill chipping in 16 points and Kate Rolfes adding 10 points. Ten UMSL players scored while combining to hold UHSP to 13-for-59 shooting. Morgan Ramthun had a team-high 15 rebounds along with four points and five assists. UMSL (2-1) will play host to Kentucky Wesleyan on Friday night in its only game of the week.
Men’s Basketball
The Tritons dropped their home opener against Winona State 72-62 on Wednesday at the Mark Twain Athletic Center. Junior guard Matt Enright scored a game-high 25 points and matched his career high with six 3-pointers in the loss, but the rest of the team shot only 13 for 37 from the field, and UMSL committed 18 turnovers. Savon Wykle was the only other Tritons player in double figures with 13 points. Winona State had five players with at least 10 points, including Luke Haertle, who finished with a team-high 17 points. The Warriors shot 10 for 24 from beyond the 3-point arc. UMSL (0-3) will look to get its first win of the season when it takes on Lake Superior State on Thursday in the McKendree DII Classic at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon, Illinois. The Tritons are also slated to play Alabama-Huntsville in the inaugural event on Friday.
