Men's Soccer Are The 2017 SLIAC Regular Season Champions

ELSAH, Ill.—For the first time since the 2013 season the Fontbonne University men's soccer team are the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Regular Season Champions after a 1-0 win against Principia.

"There have been so many great players and coaches that have made this program what it is," said head coach Donnie Alberty. "We feel blessed to represent them, our university, and we hope they are proud. Our season is a result of the program that Coach Hoener spent so much effort building. I'm personally glad he and I were on the same bench to experience this."

He added, "The players from this year's team have worked so hard to get to this point and they should feel very satisfied with how they've played. We are going to take a little time today to enjoy this and then get ready for Wednesday."

The Griffins (13-4-1; 8-1 SLIAC), outshot Principia (6-8-2; 5-2-2 SLIAC) 14-7 in the victory. Alex Phillips led with a team-high four shots and netted the game-winner. In net, Jordan Alberici collected his fourth shutout on the year after making five saves.

In the first half, each team had its fair amount of chances but both defenses and net-minders were playing well throughout. The Griffins had four straight attempts in the final minutes to find the back of the net, but none of its shots found twine which ended the first half tied at 0-0.

In the second half, the Griffins finally broke through just one minute in as Phillips scored his third on the year, off an assist from Schmidt, his team-high ninth to give them a 1-0 lead.

Fontbonne continued to dominate play as the clock continued to tick away but they were unable to add onto its lead. Then, in the 83^rd and 85^th minutes, Principia had a chance to tie the game on shots from Cameron Sellers and Mitchell Gill. However, Alberici came away with the saves and that secured the 1-0 win for the Griffins.

The team will now head into the SLIAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed and they'll host Westminster on Wednesday night. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates and recaps on the men's soccer team.