Despite generating numerous scoring chances and dominating possession, the Washington University men’s soccer team was stuck in a scoreless deadlock for most of Monday’s game against Westminster College (Mo.). Sophomore Jake Shapiro scored on a left-footed shot in the 80th minute, though, to lift the Bears to a 1-0 victory and give head coach Joe Clarke his 200th victory as Wash. U.’s coach in his 18th season at the helm.

“Oh, is that what that was? I didn’t even know I made that milestone, so it feels great,” Clarke said after the game.

Sophomore midfielder Grant Baltes prepares to make a pass on Monday at Francis Field. The men’s soccer team defeated Westminister College 1-0 on a goal late in the second half.

In the first half, the Bears controlled possession throughout but weren’t able to create a quality scoring chance until the 32nd minute, when sophomore Nick Politan’s header was deflected over the crossbar by the Westminster goalkeeper’s outstretched hand. Although the Bears had an 8-3 advantage in shots, they went into halftime without any goals to show for it. According to sophomore Henry Cummings, the Bears weren’t able to break through because they were hesitant in the attacking third of the field.

“A lot of our games have started like this, where it’s been really slow in the beginning and…it’s kind of frustrating because we had the majority of possession but we hesitated in the final third, so in the huddle we were talking about being more decisive and more aggressive in the final third,” Cummings said.

With a more aggressive mindset, the Bears’ possession advantage materialized into several scoring opportunities in the opposing box in the second half. In the 62nd minute, freshman Andrew Zingone connected on a header off a cross from sophomore Grant Baltes, but Westminster’s goalkeeper denied the scoring opportunity with a save. Then, junior Jack West sent a shot toward goal from just inside the box, but it went wide of the right post in the 77th minute.

Freshman midfielder Shadi Awad makes a sliding tackle against a Westminister defender on Monday at Francis Field.

Three minutes later, the Red and Green finally broke through when what seemed like a scramble inside Westminster’s box produced the game’s only goal. After Wash. U. sent the ball into the box, a Westminster defender deflected it in a clearance attempt, but the well-positioned Shapiro was able to knock it into the right corner.

“He’s a classic goal scorer: he’s always where he needs to be, it’s never glorious, but he’s always there…Jake Shapiro was there, as always, and he just—it was kind of like a mishit but he just slotted it right into the corner,” Cummings said.

In the final 10 minutes, Wash. U. managed one more attempt that went over the bar, but it was sophomore goalkeeper Daniel Geanon and the rest of the defense that were busiest as they held off two late attempts by Westminster to hold on to the 1-0 victory.

The goal was less luck and more a product of a strong offensive showing by the Bears that was highlighted by a 16-6 advantage in shots overall and a 5-1 edge in corner kicks. Although the Bears weren’t able to score until the 80th minute, Clarke was encouraged with the team’s offensive showing against a defensively minded Westminster squad.

“The other teams have been packing it in and keeping all kinds of guys back, so it makes it very difficult [to score] when there’s nine guys back near the other team’s penalty area. It’s going to be hard to get a lot of chances to score because they’re playing for the counterattack,” Clarke said. “This was the first game, I thought, where we put two solid halves together.”

The Bears will look to build on this season’s 3-1-1 start when they go on the road to face Webster University on Thursday.