Junior forward Maddie Clark scored a pair of game-winning goals and added an assist as the seventh-seeded Tritons knocked off No. 2 seed McKendree and No. 3 seed Ashland to reach the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional final. UMSL will face No. 4 seed Maryville on Nov. 30. (Photo by Patrick Clark/Athlete’s Eye Photography)
Women’s Soccer
The University of Missouri–St. Louis women’s soccer team will play in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional final for the first time in school history after knocking off second-seeded McKendree and third-seeded Ashland in successive games last weekend at McKendree’s Leemon Field. The Tritons, seeded seventh in the region in only their second NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016, topped the host Bearcats 3-0 on Friday and followed it up with a 1-0 win over 13th-ranked Eagles on Sunday. Maddie Clark scored the game-winning goal in both matches for first-year Coach Stephen Cavallo‘s team, opening the scoring on Friday when she collected the rebound from a corner kick and fired an arching shot under the crossbar in the 26th minute. She later assisted on Rachel Skyberg‘s goal, which capped the scoring in the 84th minute. In between, UMSL took advantage of an own goal by McKendree. Clark scored the only goal of Sunday’s match in the 14th minute with an assist from Josie Maddox. Goalkeeper Rylee Griffith pitched shutouts in both matches, bringing her season total to 10. UMSL will take on crosstown rival Maryville, the No. 4 seed, in Sunday’s championship match at Lonnie Folks Field on the Maryville campus. This is the deepest the Tritons have advanced in an NCAA Tournament since they reached the semifinals of the inaugural NCAA Championship in 1982. But that tournament featured only 12 teams, and UMSL received a first-round bye, needing only to beat Harvard to reach the semifinals. The Tritons’ only other NCAA Tournament victory between then and now came in 2016, when they knocked off Rockhurst in the opening round.
Men’s Basketball
The Tritons climbed above .500 by routing the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis 96-52 on Friday in their home opener at the Mark Twain Athletic Center. Taye Moore and Colby Dolphin each finished with 15 points, and Rashad Smith joined them in double figures with 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting in only eight minutes. Twelve different UMSL players scored points as Coach Bob Sundvold‘s team won its third straight game after an 0-2 start. The Tritons held UHSP to 35% shooting and forced 23 turnovers. UMSL (3-2) will take on Kentucky Wesleyan on Wednesday and will open Great Lakes Valley Conference play against Illinois Springfield on Saturday. Both games are at the Mark Twain Athletic Center.
Women’s Basketball
UMSL rolled to a 69-32 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan on Friday in Owensboro, Kentucky, to improve to 2-1 this season. Mara Rieder finished with a game-high 18 points, Morgan Ramthun added 11 and 13 rebounds, and Anna Costa Riera finished with 10 points, four assists and three rebounds. The Tritons’ defense was stellar throughout, holding Kentucky Wesleyan to 19.1% shooting, including 13% success from beyond the 3-point arc. They also finished with a 40-24 rebounding advantage. UMSL will play its first home game of the season on Tuesday against Purdue Northwest before opening its GLVC schedule against Illinois Springfield on Saturday. Both games are at the Mark Twain Athletic Center.
Men’s and Women’s Swimming
UMSL’s swimming teams both finished fifth out of nine teams at the University of Phoenix Fall Classic held over the weekend at the Ratner Athletic Center in Chicago. The women finished with 888 points, and the men scored 1,002.5 points in the three-day meet. Justice Beard picked up a pair of first-place finishes, winning the 500-yard freestyle on Friday with an NCAA provisional qualifying time to 4 minutes, 51.29 seconds and the 1,650-yard freestyle on Sunday in a pool-record time of 16:29.98. She shattered the previous mark by more than 20 seconds and earned an NCAA automatic qualifying time in the event. Beard also finished third Saturday’s 200-yard freestyle while hitting a provisional qualifying time of 1:51.00. Other notable finishes from the weekend included Uxue Ortiz de Pinedo winning the 200-yard breaststroke in a school-record time of 2:17.05; Romina Itzkovich winning the on the 200-yard individual medley with a provisional qualifying time of 2:03.41 and Audrey Lantz placing third in the 50-yard freestyle with a provisional time of 23.20 seconds. On the men’s side, Aaron Wicklund placed second and set a school record in the 200-yard breaststroke with a provisional qualifying time of 1:59.07. He also picked up another provisional qualifying time of 3:55.60 while finishing fifth in the 400 individual medley. Landon Hanesworth was third in the 100-yard breaststroke at 55.45 seconds. Lathan Parks took third in the 50 free with a time of 20.38 seconds, only 0.02 off a provisional qualifying mark. Parks also swam the lead leg for the 200-yard freestyle relay team that also consisted of Joan Cortadellas Llubera, Gabriel Wells and Kaleb Suitor. They finished third with a time of 1:21.24. Mattia Nardi had a fourth-place showing in the 200-yard butterfly in 1:50.37. Both swimming teams are idle until Dec. 6, when they travel to Quincy, Illinois, for a dual meet against the Hawks.
