FULTON, MO. -- A pivotal put-away from the spot kick in the 25th minute by senior captain
Spencer Brown proved to be the decider in a well played SLIAC encounter between the Blue Jays of Westminster and the Principia Panthers on Tuesday night.
An 88th minute solo effort by
McGuire Semnacher was the insurance the Panthers needed to secure at least a third place finish in the upcoming SLIAC conference tournament.
The match opened up at a frantic pace with both sides working hard to establish control of the match. The Panthers found a well-organized Blue Jay side that forced them to display their best 90 minutes of the season thus far. A counter attack initiated by
Abi Carper would find
Evan Sperr who made no mistake giving Brown a useful ball down the right flank. Brown - who was a menace to the Blue Jays all night - beat two defenders before finally being brought down in the box. Brown then made no mistake rising up to slot his second penalty in as many games for his team leading 7th goal of the season. The Panthers would then work hard to keep possession for the rest of the match despite the Blue Jays resiliency.
Panther custodian
Samuel Thomas would soon after be called to duty following a handball call at the top of the 18. Blue Jay danger man Jeff Chacko's effort would deflect off the wall spinning wildly towards the far left corner of the net, but Thomas was quick to make a game changing save to the amazement of all. A late game clearance by
John Gotwals would ricochet off a Blue Jay defender, before Semnacher calmly collected the ball just outside the box, dribbled past two defenders before rifling in a left footed shot that found its way into the net from an acute angle despite the tremendous effort made by the Blue Jay net minder. The Panther defense marshalled by Thomas, Carper, Gotwals,
Elliot Rybak and
Patrick Harber managed to record their 5th shutout of the season.
The win guarantees the Panthers a third place finish with the possibility of moving up to second place depending on other SLIAC action this week. The opponent will be the Gorlocks of Webster University and whoever finishes second will host the match. The Panthers now get ready for a non-conference buildup match against Maryville University a newly minted Div II side on Saturday afternoon at home to wrap up regular season play with kickoff slated for 3:00 PM.
