Two more games in the books for the No. 1 WashU women’s soccer team and two more dominant wins on the board. The Bears continued their season-long shutout streak, combining for a 38-0 total margin of victory. This past week saw the team’s two most closely contested wins yet — including a 2-0 victory at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT) and a 4-0 home win against Elmhurst University on Senior Day.

On Thursday, Sept. 10, the Bears took on the RHIT Fightin’ Engineers, handing them their first loss of the season. Senior forward Madi Foley knocked in the first goal of the game, scoring off a pass from sophomore midfielder Grace Lynch to take a 1-0 lead.

Both teams continued to battle defensively, but the Bears’ offensive chemistry resulted in them registering 22 total shots with 13 on goal, compared to RHIT’s five shots with just two on goal. Despite WashU’s overwhelming shot advantage, RHIT did not allow another goal until the 77th minute, when junior midfielder Emily Fox put the Bears up 2-0 with her third goal of the season. The scoreboard did not change for the rest of the game, and WashU recorded their fourth win of the season.

The Bears’ next match was their Senior Day game against Elmhurst, which took place at home on Sunday, Sept. 13. Unlike Thursday’s match-up, the Bears got their offense started early. The first goal came in the sixth minute on an own goal off an errant header from the Bluejays’ goalie. Just one minute later, junior forward and midfielder Cami Colpitts crossed a defender and sent a high-flying shot careening into the back of the net to put the Bears up 2-0.

After the fiery start, the Bears would go cold and not score another goal for nearly 70 minutes of game time. The drought ended in the 75th minute when senior midfielder Sophie Viscovich scored her first goal of the season with a pretty flick over the goalie’s head, bringing the Bears’ lead to 3-0. Just three minutes later, Fox put the finishing touches on the victory, knocking in a header off a pass from senior forward Julia Moore and putting the Bears up 4-0. 

In this two-game stretch, the Bears combined for a 42-5 shot advantage, including a 20-0 shot advantage against Elmhurst. Senior goalkeeper Charlotte Shapiro and junior goalkeeper Suzie Green recorded their fourth and fifth consecutive clean sheets in goal as the Bears kept their shutout streak alive.

The Bears will stay at home for their tournament this weekend, where they will face the University of California, Santa Cruz on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 1 p.m. and then either Rhodes College or DePauw University the following day at 1:30 p.m.