LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The No. 1 Washington University in St. Louis women's soccer team defeated No. 2 Christopher Newport University 3-0 in the national semifinal on Friday afternoon, earning a trip to the national championship game for the fifth time in program history and the second year in a row.
All three Bears' goals were scored by first years and were within 10 minutes of each other at the beginning of the second half.
The first goal came from first-year
Kate Martin, the first of her career. Off a corner kick, the ball was deflected by a CNU defender and Martin corralled it a the top of the box and fired one into the top left corner to make it 1-0 just 1:46 into the second half.
Just over one minute later, first-year
Olivia Clemons scored her 21
st goal of the year, maneuvering around several CNU defenders and making a diving shot. Clemons is now tied for third for single-season goal leaders.
The final goal of the game was scored by first-year
Cami Colpitts, who dribbled the ball up the right sideline and fired one off at the top right corner of the box, passed a leaping CNU goalkeeper to make it 3-0 for the Bears.
WashU out-shot the Captains 18-5 with six shots on goal and tallied eight corner kicks to CNU's zero. Graduate goalkeeper
Sidney Conner made two saves en route to her tenth shutout of the year.
The Bears will take on the winner of William Smith/Emory on Sunday at 12 p.m. PT. WashU will look to secure its second program national championship, having won the title in 2016.
