ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Lindenwood women's soccer team (1-1-0) suffered a 5-0 defeat at Saint Louis (1-1-0) on a steamy afternoon at Hermann Stadium on Sunday. The Lions were unable to overcome an early Billikens blitz, not recording a shot until SLU had already scored four goals.
The Billikens were on the attack early, applying heavy pressure to the LU defense that resulted in the opening goal just under eight minutes in, as Audrey Smith followed a teammate's close-range attempt off the post to make the score 1-0 in favor of SLU.
The Billikens remained aggressive, and after
Caroline Ritter turned away a shot from outside the box by Hope Kim, Audrey Smith again found herself in the right place at the right time to poke the loose ball home inside the far post to put SLU ahead 2-0 in the 13th minute.
The Lions were unable to stop the bleeding, and in the 14th minute, the Bills converted on a set piece from the corner to take a commanding 3-0 lead before adding another score in the 16th minute, with the Lions again unable to corral a free ball in the box following a save by
Caroline Ritter before a Billiken got their foot on it.
Lindenwood settled in and held Saint Louis scoreless for the next 27 minutes, but at the 42:31 mark, Lea Simpson found her way to the near post and flicked one into the back of the net on a cross by Ava Scorfina to extend their lead to 5-0.
The two sides would play to a stalemate in the second half, with the Lions limiting the Billikens to just six shots in the final 45 after surrendering 15 attempts in the first half.
Lindenwood totaled just five shots in the contest after recording 21 in Thursday's season opener. Meanwhile,
Caroline Ritter matched her career-high with eight saves.
Next Up
Lindenwood hosts a pair of home games next week, first welcoming Illinois State to Hunter Stadium at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 20th before battling DePaul at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, the 23rd.
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