ST. LOUIS—Saint Louis scored three times in the first half and held off a number of rally attempts in the second half to win its second straight Atlantic 10 Women’s Soccer Championship, beating George Washington, 3-1, Sunday at Hermann Stadium.
 
The title is the fourth A-10 championship crown overall for the Billikens (17-3-2), who also won the Atlantic 10 regular season. SLU earns the A-10’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will find out its postseason matchup in Monday’s NCAA Selection Show.
 
The Billikens got two early goals on a pair of penalty kicks two minutes apart. Hannah Friedrich scored the first in the sixth minute. A handball in the box in the eighth minute allowed Alli Klug a penalty kick as well, making it 2-0 Saint Louis. Both Friedrich and Klug were named to the All-Championship team.
 
Emily Groark scored her first goal as a Billiken in the 18^th minute converting a pass from Friedrich to give Saint Louis some insurance and send SLU to halftime up 3-0.
 
George Washington (14-3-4) scored in the 84^th minute on the first of a serious of furious rallies. All-Championship Team selection Rachel Sorkenn got a great ball from Allie Nornes at the top of the box and lifted a perfect shot over the keeper and into net. The Colonials had a few other good chances before the end of the game, but were unable to convert them into scores.
 
Saint Louis dominated the offensive end of the ball, firing 24 shots to GW’s seven. The Billikens also had seven corner kicks. George Washington keeper Tamaki Machi made eight total saves, including a pair of spectacular near-post stops that kept SLU scoreless in the second half.
 
The win extended SLU’s school-record unbeaten streak to 16 games. It also extended SLU’s unbeaten streak against A-10 opponents to 26 games. The Billikens also tied the school record with 11 home wins in the season. They are 37-1-5 in the last 43 home games.
 
Courtney Reimer was named the Championship’s Most Outstanding Player after recording six points, including a pair of goals in the quarterfinals and the game-winning goal in the semifinals. She, Friedrich and Klug were joined on the All-Championship Team by Emma Farley and Mary Niehaus.
 
La Salle goalkeeper Claudia Jenkins, and Jenny Hipp and Lauren Bonavita from Massachusetts were also named to the All-Championship team. Megan McCormick and Sofia Pavon joined Sorkenn as George Washington’s All-Championship Team representatives.