LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University women's soccer team wraps up its regular-season home slate by welcoming in Rockhurst on Friday and Drury on Sunday in Great Lakes Valley Conference play, with the latter contest representing Senior Day.
The Knights (5-3-4, 4-3-4 GLVC) will host the Hawks (7-7, 5-6) at 3:55 p.m. (ET) Friday and the Panthers (6-6-2, 4-6-1) at noon Sunday. After a solid weekend in which Bellarmine defeated Truman State 1-0 and played to a scoreless tie with William Jewell, the Knights are tied for fourth in the GLVC with Southern Indiana with three regular-season matches remaining. The top eight teams secure conference tournament berths, with the top four awarded quarterfinal home games.
"We always say the GLVC is a grind, but I've never been in a season like this where everyone is so compact," Bellarmine Coach
Chris Tinius said. "The number of ties across the league has been staggering and record breaking. We went from ninth to fourth with a win and a tie last weekend and are in line for a first-round home game, and depending on what happens this weekend, we aren't even assured to be in the tournament. It's absolutely crazy."
Rockhurst is coming off a strong weekend in which it was edged 1-0 by second place McKendree and defeated Southern Indiana 2-1. Cate Sommerhoff leads the Hawks with four goals, while Kaley Nieters has accounted for three scores and six assists. Drury is coming off a 1-1 tie with McKendree. The Panthers also fell 3-1 to Missouri-St. Louis last weekend, but prior to that they beat Rockhurst (1-0), Missouri S&T (2-0) and Maryville (3-1). Kerri Morris has deposited five goals, and Gabby Menendez has tallied four.
"Both games this weekend will be difficult matchups against two more solid teams," Tinius said. "Both have attacking players that want to go at you, and both have proven to be stingy defensively during certain stretches. Like most every team in the league, they are a couple of bounces away from having won several more games. We will once again try to get through Friday first against a Rockhurst group with an NCAA pedigree even if their record doesn't reflect that at the moment. Then we will focus on Drury and what we need from that match."
On Sunday, Bellarmine will honor seniors
Kelsey Lober,
Taylor Smith and
Sam Tilton. Each played a key role in the Knights' NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 run two years ago, a campaign that included a GLVC regular-season championship.
"This is a special group for me," Tinius said. "There were only four freshmen waiting for me in my first season and now two of them are finishing up. We were very fortunate to add Taylor to the mix as a transfer and the impact that she's had on the program. We want to thank all of them for the time, effort and contributions to our program."
Lober is a three-year starter who has appeared in 65 matches and made 50 starts. The senior defender and Academic All-GLVC selection has started every game this season and exceeded 1,000 minutes of action. With the Marion, Illinois, native as a linchpin, the Knights' defense has piled up seven shutouts in 12 matches.
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Kelsey Lober has turned into a bedrock of some of the most successful teams in Bellarmine history," Tinius said. "Even this year as we struggle to score, she is helping lead what is turning out to be one of the best defensive teams we've ever had. She is fun to work with because she's not afraid to be challenged or coached. She is my first four-year player since taking over the program and will always have a special place in my heart."
Tilton has amassed 35 starts over 55 matches in her career. The senior midfielder and Louisville native has made nine starts this season and has been one of the Knights' most dependable players since returning to the team this year.
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Sam Tilton is a hard-nosed midfielder that is good on the ball and can really help control the flow of the game both in the attack and defensively," Tinius said. "We lost her for a year but are thrilled that she was able to play again in her senior season. She is a kid I had seven or eight years ago as her ODP coach, so to see her now as the player and person that she has become is very cool."
Smith has been one of the GLVC's top goalkeepers over the last three seasons. In that span, the Louisville native is 20-4-6 and has racked up 17 shutouts and a 0.49 goals-against average. In 2015, Smith was named first-team All-GLVC and first-team All-Midwest Region. This season Smith, also an Academic All-GLVC selection, has registered seven shutouts and carries a 0.45 GAA.
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Taylor Smith has been a wonderful goalkeeper and leader for our team," Tinius said. "She's had some great moments for our program on the field and in how she handled the complexities of a uniquely competitive goalkeeping situation in her first two years with us. It was a blessing that she transferred to us three years ago (from the University of Louisville). My only regret is that we didn't have a person and leader like her in our program for her entire career."
While Bellarmine has allowed only six goals this season, the Knights have scored just 10 or less than one per match. That combination has helped lead to seven overtime outings and almost an entire handful of ties.
"We are continuing to play better soccer," Tinius said. "We play a funny sport with all the ties. Last year I felt like we had a few 'bad ties' that probably kept us out of the NCAA Tournament. I feel like we are playing pretty well in the games we've tied as of late. Watching film of Sunday (against William Jewell) confirmed that we continue to create more good chances. Right now, it comes down to not just creating chances but being sharper in those moments. That includes the commitment to second movements to actually get in behind, choosing the correct surface to use when finishing, attacking the ball in the box instead of waiting for it to fall to us — things like that."
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