Margaret BauerWhat a season it has been for the 16th-ranked Washington University women’s soccer team. Coming into the final game of the season against 11th-ranked University of Chicago on Saturday, the Bears, who posted a 15-2 record coming into the last game, needed a win against Chicago and a loss from Emory University over the weekend to clinch the UAA championship. The Bears were able to accomplish one of these by winning their last game of the season in commanding fashion with a 3-0 shutout against Chicago in front of a crowd of 250 at Francis Field.
The Bears jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the game at the 3:16 mark as freshman Kim O’Keefe headed a corner kick from sophomore Talia Bucci into the back of the goal for her fifth goal of the year. Junior Megan Morley scored her second goal for the second game in a row as she retrieved a loose ball off of a flip throw from freshman Marin McCarthy to put the Bears up 2-0 with seven minutes left in the first half.
Just for safe measure, the Bears added an insurance goal in the 84th minute as McCarthy scored off of a cross from freshman Jessica Deneweth to give WU the 3-0 lead. Senior goalkeeper Charlotte Felber made one save in goal as she picked up her 16th win of the season, a school record. The Bears’ shutout was the 12th of the season, a new school record.
All of this came after Felber and sophomore midfielder MeghanMarie Fowler-Finn were named to the 2004 CoSIDA Academic All-District VII College Division Women’s Soccer Team. Felber was named to the first team while Finn earned second-team honors.
Felber has posted a 0.45 goals-against average while posting a school-record 16 wins in the net. She has only allowed seven goals in 1,475 minutes played and has posted a .854 save percentage. Felber has a 3.65 grade point average in architecture and is a three-time member of the UAA All-Academic Team. She currently ranks first in Washington University history in career wins (35), second in career goals against average (0.64), fourth in career saves (169) and fifth in career shutouts (20.5).
Fowler-Finn leads the Bears in goals (10), points (22), shots (49) and game-winning goals (4). Fowler-Finn has a 3.89 grade point average and is a 2004 UAA All-Academic Team member. She currently ranks fifth in career game-winning goals (6), seventh in goals career goals (20) and ninth in career points (44).
Emory University defeated Carnegie Mellon University over the weekend, which propelled Emory into a tie for the top spot in the University Athletic Association standings with 18 points. However, since the Emory Eagles won the tiebreaker due to a 1-0 win at Francis Field on Oct. 10, they were able to gain the automatic bid to the 2004 Division III Women’s Soccer Championship Tournament. Nevertheless, the Bears were able to receive an at-large bid to the tournament as well as a first-round bye.
The postseason begins at home at Francis Field on Saturday at 6 p.m. as the Bears will host Principia College of Elsah, Ill. The Bears come into the NCAA Tournament off a six-game win streak.