September 24, 2007

Fontbonne University's men's soccer team remained undefeated in conference play with two wins last week, including a 2-1 victory in the final seconds on the road at Maryville. Principia College is also undefeated in the SLIAC at 2-0 after a 4-0 shutout of Blackburn College. Perhaps the most talked about men's soccer game of the week, however, was Greenville College's 2-0 victory versus Webster University. The Panthers stand at 3-1 in conference play and handed the Gorloks their first loss in the SLIAC.

After a week filled with non-conference action, conference play will resume on Saturday, September 29, with a prime matchup between Principia and Maryville. The two teams battled to a 2-1 double overtime decision last season, with Principia coming out on top.

The Principia vs. Maryville matchup on the women's side will also be a key battle, as both teams are currently undefeated in conference play. Maryville cruised through two conference games last week with a 6-0 win versus Fontbonne and an 8-0 win versus MacMurray. Principia, who defeated Maryville twice last season, has wins over Blackburn and Greenville this season.

Webster University's women's soccer team is undefeated at 8-0 overall and 2-0 in SLIAC play. The Gorloks, who were ranked 10th in last week's NSCAA/adidas Central Region poll, will face nationally ranked No. 10 Washington University (Mo.) this Wednesday, September 26, on the road.

The Greenville spikers currently own a six-match conference win streak after defeating Maryville and Westminster this past weekend. The Panthers are 9-3 overall and 6-0 in conference play. Webster is the only other team still undefeated in conference play at 4-0.

Principia swept through conference play last week with three-game sweeps versus Maryville, Eureka and MacMurray to improve to 5-1 in the SLIAC. Junior Christina Speer dominated for the Panthers averaging 3.78 kills per game and posting a .515 attack percentage with zero errors in three matches played. Speer also added 18 blocks, 15 digs and four service aces.

The SLIAC cross country teams will be spread out on the race paths this coming weekend. Greenville will be heading south to compete at the Rhodes Invitational in Memphis, Tenn., while Maryville and Principia will head north for the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational hosted by Loyola University-Chicago and Warrior Invitational hosted by Wisconsin Lutheran College respectively.

Other competition this week includes Blackburn at their own Beaverthon, and Fontbonne and Webster at the Gary Stoner Memorial hosted by Central Methodist University.

Greenville, Principia and Eureka were the only teams competing last week at the Brissman/Lundeen Invitational hosted by Augustana College (Ill.). The Greenville men and women led the SLIAC competition with 15th and 16th place finishes respectively. On the men's side, Principia College's Peter Swank was the top SLIAC competitor with a time of 26:32 for 18th place. Greenville's Jennifer Sutton was the top SLIAC competitor for the women with a time of 24:21.