ST. LOUIS – Carolina Kelly scored two goals and tallied an assist to lead Saint Louis to its sixth straight Atlantic 10 Women’s Soccer Championship title. The top-seeded Billikens beat No. 2 La Salle 3-0 Sunday at Hermann Stadium.
 
SLU (16-2-2), ranked 21^st nationally, earns the A-10’s NCAA Tournament automatic bid.It was the eighth A-10 title overall for the Billikens, who also won in 2005 and 2006.
 
Saint Louis dominated play early, registering eight shots and three corners in the first half, while holding La Salle to a single shot and no corners. That offensive push turned in a Kelly goal at 13:03 in the first half, a shot to the bottom left after a feed from All-Championship selection Emily Gaebe.
 
Gaebe got her own goal 14 minutes later, a shot to the top center after a pass from Anna Lawler and a touch from Kelly in the 27^th minute.
 
La Salle (12-5-3) came on strong in the second half, matching SLU with 13 shots and tallying three corner kicks. The Explorers forced Billiken keeper Emily Puricelli to make five second-half saves, and she had six overall. La Salle keeper Michela Auguadro made eight total saves, five in the second half. Both keepers earned All-Championship honors for their combined work in the three rounds.
 
Kelly, who was named the Championship’s Most Outstanding Player, scored the third and final goal, this time to the bottom right on a pass from Hannah Larson, also an All-Championship selection, in the 56^th minute.
 
Saint Louis led in shots, 21-14 and corners 8-3.  La Salle claimed a 8-6 advantage in saves.
 
Joining Kelly, Larson, Puricelli, Gaebe and the goalkeepers on the All-Championship team were Lyndsey Heckel and Hannah Sawyer from Saint Louis, La Salle’s Haley Gschrey and Emily Banashefski, Madison Wilson of Dayton and Duquesne’s Maya Matesa.