THE RESULT
#22 Saint Louis 2, VCU 0
Atlantic 10 Championship Quarterfinal
Friday, Oct. 27, 2023 | 7 p.m.
Hermann Stadium | St. Louis, Mo.
GAME DETAILS
•Lyndsey Heckel scored on a corner kick just 50 seconds into the game, Emily Gaebe broke two school records, and top-seeded and 22nd-ranked Saint Louis downed eighth-seeded VCU 2-0 in an Atlantic 10 Conference Women's Soccer Championship quarterfinal match Friday night at Hermann Stadium.
•SLU advances to the semifinals to take on fifth-seeded Duquesne, a 2-1 quarterfinal winner over fourth-seeded Massachusetts.
•The Billikens (15-2-2) extended their winning streak and shutout streak to eight games and their unbeaten streak to 14 games (12-0-2). VCU finished with a 5-9-4 record.
•Heckel took a perfect corner-kick feed from Izzy Luebbert and buried a header past VCU goalkeeper Allison Karpovich for what proved to be her third game-winning goal of the season.
•Gaebe made it 2-0 in the 37th minute with an assist from Julia Simon. Simon fired a shot that Karpovich saved, but Gaebe gathered the rebound and easily put it away.
•Gaebe, who entered the game tied for SLU season records in goals and points, now has sole possession of both marks (14 goals, 34 points).
•Emily Puricelli registered five saves, all in the second half and including an acrobatic rejection of a penalty kick.
SCORING SUMMARY
Lyndsey Heckel (Izzy Luebbert), 00:50, SLU 1-0; Emily Gaebe (Julia Simon), 36:48, SLU 2-0
BILLIKEN NOTABLES
•The Billikens improved to 21-5-1 in A-10 Championship play overall and 10-3-1 in tournament openers. They improved their record vs. VCU to 7-3-1, winning six of the last seven meetings.
•Since 2016, SLU is 48-1-2 vs. A-10 opponents (regular season and tournament combined) at Hermann Stadium.
•Saint Louis extended its school record with its eighth consecutive shutout and set a school mark for consecutive shutout minutes (740:31).
•SLU earned advantages of 14-9 in total shots, 7-5 in shots on goal and 11-2 in corner kicks.
•The Heckel-from-Luebbert goal was a new player combination for the Bills. Saint Louis has 48 assisted goals this year, produced by 43 different player combos.
•Emily Gaebe extended her point-scoring streak to 10 games. Gaebe has 28 points (12G, 4A) during the streak.
•Gaebe moved into sole possession of third place on Saint Louis' career goals chart with 30.
•Lyndsey Heckel's goal was her fourth of the year and her ninth career game-winning goal, placing her in a seventh-place tie on SLU's all-time list.
•Izzy Luebbert's assist was her seventh of the season, tying for the team lead. Luebbert has five helpers in the last six matches.
•Julia Simon collected her fourth assist of the year.
•Emily Puricelli recorded her 63rd career victory and 37th career clean sheet. Puricelli is now just one shutout shy of tying Meghann Burke's SLU career shutout record. She made her 81st career start, moving into a fifth-place tie in Billiken history, and she moved into a second-place tie in career saves (243).
SAINT LOUIS STARTERS
Emily Puricelli, Anna Lawler, Emily Groark, Caroline Kelly, Hannah Larson, Katie Houck, Abbie Miller, Izzy Luebbert, Emily Gaebe, Lyndsey Heckel, Sophia Stram
SAINT LOUIS SUBSTITUTES
Hannah Sawyer, Jess Preusser, Julia Simon, Jordan Gary, Eva Schreiber, Clare Nicholas, Alyssa Bockius