Members of the UMSL women’s soccer team huddle on the field during their national quarterfinal match against Washburn. The Tritons fell 3-2 in the match World Wide Technology Soccer Park. (Photo by Patrick Clark/Athlete’s Eye Photography).
Members of the University of Missouri–St. Louis women’s soccer team continued to believe right up until the waning seconds.
But as Washburn gained possession of a loose ball near midfield with fewer than 10 ticks remaining on the scoreboard clock in their national quarterfinal match Saturday afternoon, the Tritons, still trailing 3-2, finally had to confront the end of their historic season.
They stopped chasing, and a few of them fell to the turf at World Wide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton, Missouri.
When time finally expired, the Ichabods’ reserves came streaming onto the field to begin their celebration. UMSL’s backups moved more deliberately from their own bench as they went to console their teammates.
“We’re trying our best to get a hold of the game, and it just wasn’t in the cards for us,” Coach Stephen Cavallo said a short time after it was over.
UMSL (15-5-2) had showed both the talent and resilience it had displayed throughout the fall as it battled back from a 2-0 halftime deficit, leveling the score on a pair of goals from freshman forward Ella Anselm in the second half.
The first came in the 51st minute when Josie Maddox hit Rachel Skyberg in the center of the field, and Skyberg slid a through ball to Anselm breaking behind the defense on the ride side. The freshman flicked it past charging goalkeeper Lili Everly and inside the near post to get UMSL on the board.
If the cheers from the Tritons’ supporters were loud for that goal, they still couldn’t compare to the eruption that occurred when Anselm used her head to redirect a cross from teammate Aubree Wallace into the far side of the net, knotting the match at 2 with 32:15 remaining.
“In these big moments, she doesn’t shy,” Cavallo said of Anselm. “It’s unbelievable just how composed she is as a nine (striker). This is a kid who’s going to score a lot of goals in her college career.”
But just when it seemed UMSL might have the momentum it needed to gain the upper hand, Washburn (14-3-6) struck back with just under 29 minutes to play.
Midfielder Grace Peterson got the ball with space in the center of the field and slipped a pass to Leah Henke cutting on the left wing. On a day when the Ichabods were whistled for 10 offsides, Henke managed to stay even with the defense just long enough before receiving the ball and darting free into the penalty area.
Goalkeeper Rylee Griffith turned away Henke’s initial shot – one of her five saves – but she was still scrambling back into position as the Washburn forward corralled the rebound and sent a left-footed shot into the goal for a 3-2 advantage.
“We had to really earn it today and battle through some challenges that this game provided,” Washburn Coach Davy Phillips said afterward. “I’m so proud of our team and their character to battle back and find the game winner.”
The Ichabods’ defense locked down the middle of the field the rest of the way. They prevented the Tritons from another high-quality scoring opportunity while clinching their second appearance in the national semifinals in the past three years, and Everly easily handled a pair of long free kicks on goal among her six saves.
As much as UMSL wished for another equalizer, the Tritons were left with just as much regret for defensive breakdowns in the last seven minutes of the first half that resulted in a pair of Washburn goals. That was more than they’d allowed in any match since a 4-2 victory over Lincoln on Sept. 28. UMSL had surrendered only 11 goals total in its first 21 matches.
“The goals that we concede, all three of them today were not great from us,” Cavallo said. “At this stage of the season, giving up three goals, it’s going to be hard to win. That will probably be the toughest thing as a coach.”
But Cavallo, hired last June to replace Maddi Moon after she left for an assistant coaching position at Division-I Iowa, certainly didn’t want that to be the biggest takeaway from his first season. Not when it saw so much more success – a share of the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season title, the program’s second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and the longest postseason run in school history.
UMSL had reached the Final Four in the inaugural NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship in 1982 – before there were divisions – but that field included just 12 teams. It needed only to knock off Harvard to advance to the national semifinal, where it fell to North Carolina. This year, the Tritons beat McKendree, Ashland and Maryville on their NCAA journey and a Midwest Region Championship.
They finished one shy of the most victories in school history.
After Saturday’s loss, Cavallo and his players spent several minutes circled up near the center of the field, their arms around each other, so they could reflect together on all that they’d accomplished.
“These players have changed soccer and the way that our program is viewed on the national stage,” said Cavallo, whose starting lineup Saturday included only two seniors. “We want to continue to build and grow from this and have this not be just a one-season thing, a Cinderella story, but a place that UMSL women’s soccer is here to stay. We want to be competing in the Elite Eight, the Final Four hopefully next year, and in the national championship down the road.”
