Women's Soccer Gears Up For Another Impactful 2017 Campaign

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—Coming off an appearance in the 2016 SLIAC Championship Game the Fontbonne University women's soccer team has its eyes set on getting back there and earning redemption in 2017.

Last year, the Griffins (12-7-2; 8-1 SLIAC) finished the regular season second in the conference which gave them the No. 2 seed in the SLIAC Tournament and they faced off against No. 3 Spalding.

After trailing 1-0, Savannah Davis tied the game at the 50:19 mark off an assist from Natalie Sipole. The two teams continued to battle the rest of the half but neither scored the game winner so it was off to overtime.

Both teams had its fair amount of chances in both the first and second overtime, however, the game remained tied 1-1 and it was time for penalty kicks.

Fontbonne took over the PK's with the team making all four of its attempts which allowed them to advance onto the Championship game for the first time since 1996.

In the title game, FBU took on No. 1-seeded Webster University. Things started out well for Fontbonne with Ellen Weaver scoring at the 2:38 mark to give them the early 1-0 lead.

However, Webster went on to add a late goal at 43:33 to tie the game and eventually won it on Kayla Dye's game winner at 60:52, giving them the 2-1 win.

Despite the loss, the team was still well acknowledged with plenty of postseason hardware. Coach Brian Hoener earned his sixth Coach of the Year award.

Sipole, Anna Whitaker and Tayler Pulvirenti were named to the All-Conference First Team, while Meredith Wendt and Leann Smith collected Second and Third Team honors.

"I think last year we made some strides to get the program headed in the direction that we want," said Hoener. "Making it to the conference tournament championship for the first time since 1996 was a great accomplishment but now we have to strive to have that constituency to be in those important games every season."

This season, the Griffins will look to replace the likes of Sipole and Pulvirenti, however, the team does return 16 players and seven starters from last year's roster.

Whitaker and Maddie Redohl both return to defend the back line as they helped the Griffins record eight shutouts last year, which led the conference.

"We always start in the back, so having two central defenders in Whitaker and Redohl will be big for us," added Hoener. "We are also looking for some similar production from forwards Weaver, Meredith Wendt and Jacey Pate who combined to score 33 goals last season."

Weaver closed out third on the team in points with 22, to go along with her nine goals and four assists. Wendt, meanwhile, was a force with her 14 goals, four assists and conference leading 81 shots. Pate ended the year second in goals with 10 and points earning 24.

Coach Hoener also welcomes some new faces to the program that will look to step up in pursuit of impacting the club this year. "We have two new goalies, Makayla Hussong and Mary Beers, which have looked very good in training thus far," stated Hoener. "We're also hoping to get key minutes from our freshman class."

The team will get its 2017 season underway on September 1^st when they'll pay a visit to Elmhurst. Kick-off begins at 7:30 p.m.

The Blue Jays are coming off a 10-7 2016 campaign where they also finished with 20 goals. Leading the way and back for her senior season is Kim Stanczak as she'll look to build off her team-high six goals and five assists. Offensively, Sidney O'Keeffe and Emma Krick also return after scoring three goals each.

In net, the team does lose net minder Emily Gordon after allowing just 13 goals last year for a mere 1.11 goals against average. However, backup Sophia Tuliglowski looks to gain the starting role after appearing in 11 games, making 22 saves and finishing with a 3-1 record.

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