SLU’s Emily Gaebe celebrates with a teammate, after scoring her second goal of the night, in the Billikens’ win over UMass. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
| NCAA Men’s Soccer | 1 | 2 | Final |
| UMass (7-4-4, 4-2-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SLU (11-2-2, 6-0-1) | 3 | 3 | 6 |
Scoring Summary
| Time | Team | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 23:36 |  | Emily Groark (2) Assisted By: Caroline Kelly , Emily Gaebe. |
| 26:04 | | Hannah Larson (4) Assisted By: Emily Gaebe. |
| 32:04 | | Emily Gaebe (7) Assisted By: Julia Simon. |
| 46:55 | | Caroline Kelly (7) Assisted By: Abbie Miller , Izzy Luebbert. |
| 57:00 | | Emily Gaebe (8) Assisted By: Emily Groark. |
| 89:55 | | Macy Lutz (1) Assisted By: Nina Preusser. |
Paige Dale
Staff Writer
ST. LOUIS, MO — Saint Louis University junior forward Emily Gaebe had the night of her life in what may have been the Billikens’ biggest game of the season on Thursday.
The 5-foot-7 dynamo from Union, Mo., scored two goals and added two assists, for a career-high six points to lead Saint Louis to a 6-0 win over Massachusetts in an important Atlantic 10 Conference game at Hermann Stadium.
“Emily Gaebe is something special,” SLU head coach Katie Shields said. “We know that. We’ve known that. And you saw it on display tonight.”
Gaebe, whose two goals now give her the team lead with eight on the season, led Saint Louis to its fourth win in a row and 10th straight game without a loss. The Billikens last loss occurred on August 31. Since then the club is 8-0-2.
“We’ve just been playing really well,” Shields said. “We kind of lead with our defense and just making sure we cut down on our opponents’ scoring opportunities. And then, we try to create our own and take advantage of the chances we get.”
And SLU had a bunch of scoring chances on Thursday.
The Billikens outshot the Minutewomen 24-5, with 14 of those shots being on goal to just two for UMass.
Grad student senior Emily Groark got the scoring going, when she banged one home in the game’s 24th minute, following a nice set up by Gaebe and Caroline Kelly. The score was Groark’s second of the season and gave Saint Louis a 1-0 lead.
The Billikens quickly made it 2-0 when Hannah Larson scored in the 27th minute, following another set up by Gaebe, who then added her first goal of the night in the 33rd minute to put SLU up 3-0.
Kelly scored her seventh goal of the season in the opening minutes of the second half to make it 4-0. Gaebe scored her second of the night, after outrunning a UMass defender to an open ball, following a lead pass from Groark.
For the season, Gaebe has eight goals and six assists for 22 points. Those number not only lead the Billikens, but are also tops across the board in the entire Atlantic 10 Conference.
Freshman Macy Lutz tallied her first goal as a collegiate player in the game’s final minute to close out the scoring in a win that assures Saint Louis of maintaining hold of first place in the league standings. La Salle and Dayton are tied for second and both won on Thursday, but they couldn’t surpass SLU, which is now 11-2-2 on the season and 6-0-1 in conference play.
“I told (the team) ‘enjoy it, but don’t be satisfied,” Shields said. “This was a championship caliber performance, but now we gotta go do it on the road, on Sunday. And that’s always more challenging.”
The Billikens will play at Rhode Island on Sunday.
2023 SLU Billikens Women’s Upcoming Soccer Schedule
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 15 (Sunday) | Noon | Away | Rhode Island | Kingston, R.I. |
| October 19 (Thursday) | 7 pm | Home | Duquesne | Hermann Stadium |
| October 22 (Sunday) | 11:30 am | Away | Saint Joseph’s | Philadelphia, Pa. |