Nov. 4, 2005

Box Score

DAYTON - The seeds held true and top-ranked Saint Louis University and second-seeded University of Rhode Island will meet Sunday afternoon in Dayton, Ohio for the Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Championship and a berth in the NCAA Championship. SLU advanced with a 1-0 win over the host University of Dayton while URI got past Charlotte 2-0.

The second semifinal match saw the Billikens (14-4-0) strike early and hold off a late Flyer (10-7-3) rally to earn their first A-10 finals appearance in their first year in the league.

It was the first-ever meeting between Saint Louis and Dayton after the Billikens ended the Flyers' run of seven-straight A-10 regular season titles.

Lachlyne Eastman scored in the 10th minute as she lofted a shot from the left flank nearly 35 out, which beat UD goalkeeper Niki Reed to the far upper 90. The first goal of the season for Eastman came on an assist from Dee Guempel and it would stand to be the game-winner.

That goal would be the difference as both defenses bunkered down for the balance of the match. UD's Reed kept the Flyers in it as she came up with five saves, including two diving stops on SLU shots in the second half. SLU keeper Amy Goellner came up with three saves in the winning effort.

Dayton's Jen Leslie came off the bench to provide UD a second-half spark and she nearly evened the match in the 71st minute. She had an initial shot which was saved on the line by the SLU defense, she collected the loose ball off the rebound and her next shot was blocked.

For the match, SLU held a 16-12 edge in shots, while the corner kicks were even at 5-5.

In game one, the Rams (11-5-2) downed the third-seeded 49ers (11-9-0) behind two goals from Dora Larusdottir and a shutout from goalkeeper Kristin Marra.

Rhode Island, which will make its second consecutive appearance in the A-10 title game on Sunday, got on the board first in 20th minute with the sixth goal of the season from freshman Dora Larusdottir. After a shot by senior Megan Kasperek was blocked by the Charlotte defense, Larusdottir picked up the loose ball in the box and beat 49er keeper Juli Black to the near corner from close range.

The Rams would take the 1-0 lead into the half after outshooting the 49ers 13-7.

Larusdottir scored her second of the night, extending the Rams lead to 2-0 in the 68th minute. The freshman picked up a deflected pass in the box from Thorunn Jonsdottir and beat Black with a shot from 12 yards out.

Just minutes later, the 49ers had a chance to cut the deficit in half, but URI goalkeeper Kristen Marra turned away a penalty kick from Lindsey Beam, Charlotte's leading scorer.

Marra made five saves in the winning effort for Rams. The senior was filling in for regular starter Ria Carroll, who was serving a one-game suspension for a red card. Black made three saves for Charlotte.

For the match, URI owned a 22-9 advantage in shots and a 3-2 edge in corner kicks.

Sunday's championship will kickoff at 1 p.m. ET at Dayton's Baujan Field.