On its Senior Day, when teams honor the hard work and achievement of their longest-tenured players, the Washington University women’s soccer team notched another win, making another big step toward this season’s goals. The Bears wrapped up the University Athletic Association championship with an impressive 2-1 win over the University of Chicago in their regular season finale.

Nine seniors were honored in a ceremony before the game: Allie Betley, Lauren Clatch, Emily Gosché, Caitlin Heim, Clara Jaques, Nicole Martin, Jodi Rosenzweig, Murphy Stanley and Hilary Stepansky. This year’s group of seniors has an overall record of 62-18-6 (.756) over four seasons with the Bears.

While both teams were aggressive in the first half, moving the ball up and down the field, the game stayed tied until the 41st minute, when a shot by Clatch from the top of the box was deflected by junior Jessica Johnson past the Maroons’ goalie Jacinda Reid, who was diving to stop Clatch’s shot.

“Clatch hit it, and it kind of hit off the bottom of my foot,” Johnson said, “and then it hit off the Chicago [defender], so I wouldn’t say there was a lot of skill involved.”

Wash. U. added a goal in the 74th minute, when sophomore Kaylin Balley threaded a feed from Johnson inside the right post, where Reid couldn’t do anything to stop it. It was Balley’s second career goal.

“Off of a University of Chicago goal kick, we did a great job of winning the first ball,” head coach Jim Conlon said. “[Balley] did a good job of freeing herself up on the far side…she had a great shot over the keeper. She did a phenomenal job of understanding where to put that ball and with what pace.”

The Maroons seemed to wake up after facing the 2-0 deficit and began to attack more aggressively in a physical game that featured 15 total fouls, many ugly collisions and tackles that went uncalled. Wash. U. had an advantage in shots, 11-9, and in corner kicks, 7-5, and the tight margin in the statistics indicates how close the game was in the second half. In the 78th minute, Chicago broke through with a goal from Julia Ozello.

“After that goal, right off the kick off, [Chicago] came on real strong, all guns blazing,” Conlon said.

Despite this single lapse, Wash. U.’s defense held, and senior goalkeeper Clara Jaques earned her school-record 60th win. Heim (11 minutes) and Stepansky (four minutes) also spent time in goal for the Bears.

“We were fortunate enough to get all nine [seniors] in the game, which is difficult to do, given our normal rotation,” Conlon said, “The fact that they got recognized before the game is what they deserve. For them to all get in and contribute to a good team win…it means a lot to them.”

Wash. U. remained undefeated at home, and they have not lost at all since a mid-September contest against Wheaton College. Ending the regular season with a 16-1-1 record, the Bears hope to carry their regular season success to the playoffs.

“We’re looking to go all the way,” Martin said. “We do not set our goals short. We have an absolutely amazing team this year, but we’re going to take it one step at a time. We’re definitely not done yet.”

With the NCAA selection show set for Monday afternoon, the Red and the Green will soon learn who they play and where, with the hope that they can host a game or two at Francis Field.

“They don’t let bad teams into the NCAA tournament,” Conlon said, “so we have to prepare ourselves, take things one game at a time and see if we can make this season a little longer.”