Tritons upset top-seed SIUE in semifinals

The Tritons women's soccer team upset the number one seed SIU-Edwardsville in the GLVC tournament semifinals Friday night to land a spot in the championship match against Drury University on Sunday.

"It's cool that we're coming in as the underdogs," goalkeeper Amy Boehm said.

Tara Reitz, midfielder and forward, scored the only goal of the game in the 26th minute off of an assist by defender Rachel Lee.

Lee passed the ball out to the far side and Reitz was able to go one-on-one with SIU-Edwardsville goalkeeper Kim Roady.

The kick sailed to the far corner of the net and hushed the SIU-Edwardsville home fans.

The goal marked Reitz's eighth of the season and Lee's third assist.

"This is the best I have ever felt in my life," Reitz said after the 1-0 shutout against the Cougars. "This is so huge, and we worked so hard."

With 16 minutes left to play, Reitz came within inches of a second goal for UM-St. Louis as the goalkeeper fell past a slow moving shot by Reitz. The ball rolled out of the field about a foot shy of the post of the open Cougar net.

The Tritons went into Friday's game with a three game winning streak and won six of its last seven games.

Before the game, Head Coach Beth Goetz said, "We prepared for what is important. We kept practice consistently strong." Goetz added that the team worked on individual defense in particular.

The Cougars controlled the ball for most of the first half, but the Tritons came out strong committing nine official fouls and knocking down Cougars all over the field.

However, one UM-St. Louis players had her own share of roughhousing. In the opening seconds of the game, Reitz took a strong hit with a shot to the head from the Cougars.

Then, with 52 seconds left in the second half, Reitz took a hard shot at the sideline near the UM-St. Louis bench, but she got up and finished out the game.

After the game, Goetz said Reitz took a hit to the knee, but she was up and moving after the game.

Overall, Reitz had two of the four shots on goal for UM-St. Louis, her only two shots of the game. Elizabeth Valenti of the Cougars recorded five shots, two of which were on goal.

While the Tritons were out shot 10-5, goalkeepers Mary Behrmann and Boehm helped complete the shutout, with Behrmann recording three saves in the first half while Boehm stopped two shots in the second half.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Boehm made a save from a hard shot about three yards out.

"They came at us hard, but we were ready for them and prepared to play a great game," Boehm said.

During the last few minutes of the game, Goetz said she had one thing on her mind: "The clock is not moving!"

Friday night's victory over #15 ranked sent the Tritons (12-7-2) to the championship finals, where the team played the third seed Drury (15-4-1), who defeated Quincy earlier Friday in double overtime.

The final match marked the first time both teams have met in the GLVC finals and the first championship for either team.