The No. 3 Washington University’s women’s soccer team began University Athletic Association conference play Sunday with a 1-0 road win over No. 7 Emory University. A first-half goal by senior midfielder Kate Doyle gave Wash. U. the lead, and sophomore goalkeeper Amy French led the Bears to their ninth shutout of the year.
Scoreless through the first 15 minutes, Wash. U. capitalized on a corner kick by senior forward Becky Berels, which led to a scoring header by Doyle. It was Doyle’s fourth goal of the season and Berels’ team-leading sixth assist.
“We’ve been working a lot on corner kicks because we didn’t feel like we were performing very well on those early in the season,” junior forward Lillie Toaspern said. “And today, our only goal was on that corner kick, so that was really awesome.”
It proved to be the deciding goal thanks to yet another spectacular defensive effort by the Bears. French made nine saves without allowing a goal, guiding the Bears to their ninth shutout in 10 games this year.
“We just played really great team defense, which held off really strong toward the end, and that’s what led us to victory today,” Toaspern said.
Emory wound up scoreless despite having 15 shots to the Bears’ 10 and nine shots on goal to the Bears’ five. The loss broke Emory’s 27-match winning streak at home.
“Our team defense and game management intelligence was very good,” head coach Jim Conlon said. “It was an extremely warm day down in Atlanta against a very talented Emory team, so I think we had to be sharp in all of the details of the game, not just a game plan.”
Junior midfielder Anna Zambricki said that the team was motivated by anticipation for playing its first UAA game of the season.
“We came in knowing that it would be a hard game…and I think the excitement pushed us, and we started off well,” she said.
Toaspern commented that it felt terrific to start conference play with a win as the season moves into mid-October. She added that the victory shows that the team is moving in the right direction and is still improving despite a 9-1 start.
The Bears will play their next four games at home, three of which are UAA games, before wrapping up their schedule with four away games.