Pulvirenti saves penalty kick, ensures shutout win over Spalding

St. Louis, Mo. - Fontbonne women's soccer shutout Spalding 2-0 today, to hand the Golden Eagles their first St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Golden Eagles had shutout each of their last three SLIAC opponents. Fontbonne is now 7-8 overall and 3-3 in conference play.

Each team earned a corner kick early in the game, but both failed to convert into a goal. Spalding's first corner kick looked to be especially dangerous until Tayler Pulvirenti punched the ball for the Griffin defense to loft up the field.

The Griffins found the back of the net for the first time when Natalie Sipole lofted the ball 30 yards out. Teammate Ashlynn Reiter and Spalding goalkeeper Kelsey Kaiser both went up for the play. Reiter prevailed, heading the ball at the goal line near the left post for the goal in the 19th minute.

Fontbonne's Paige Pfankuch and Spalding's Dee Dee Sliter tripped each other up trying to play the ball inside the top edge of the box at the 43:56 mark. The referee called a foul on Pfankuch, giving Spalding the chance to tie the game. Sliter's shot was stopped short by Pulvirenti, lifting the Griffin's momentum at halftime.

In the fourth corner kick of the second half and second by the Griffins, Fontbonne freshman Leann Smith scored her third goal of the season. All have been headers from senior corner kicker Pfankuch and have occurred within the last two games.

The final goal of the game occurred in the 51st minute but Fontbonne had a good chance in the 68th minute when Kaiser made a one-handed save for Spalding. Spalding didn't give up and proved it in the 71st minute when a Golden Eagle slipped in and stole a ball from Fontbonne's pass, which Pulvirenti saved and then managed to save the rebound shot as well.

Pulvirenti saved four shots in her fourth shutout of the season. The Griffins were called for nine fouls compared to just three on Spalding, but held a 10-6 shot advantage.

Fontbonne is off until Thursday, October 22nd when they go across Wydown for a matchup against No. 7-ranked Washington University at 7:30 p.m.