LOUISVILLE, KY. – Senior Cassie McFadden scored the game-winner with 20 minutes remaining to help the fourth-seeded University of Missouri-St. Louis women's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over top-seeded and No. 13 ranked Bellarmine on Friday night in semifinal round action of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, hosted by the Knights.
 
McFadden recorded her second goal of the season in at the 70:36 mark on a blast from 40 yards out that went over the head of Bellarmine keeper Hannah Poteet, who was inserted into the game a minute before the score.
 
"We were being pressured hard quite a bit tonight, but I saw a gap and thought why not try it," said McFadden of her shot. "I hit it with my left foot, which isn't my strong foot, but I practice with both legs and am comfortable enough taking that shot either way."
 
The Tritons move on to Sunday's championship game against No. 2 seed Truman State, which advanced past No. 3 seed Quincy on penalty kicks. UMSL will be making its fifth GLVC Tournament championship game appearance, and it's first since 2007, but has yet to hoist the trophy. The Tritons lost a 1-0 decision to Truman State in their home opener on September 13, despite outshooting the visiting Bulldogs, 16-6.
 
UMSL improves to 12-3-4 overall, equaling the program's most wins since the 2007 team also finished with 12 victories. Bellarmine falls to 16-2-2, with both losses coming at home.
 
"I thought we played a very aggressive game and really picked it up in the second half," said second-year head coach Wendy Dillinger. "We knew coming in that we would have to press Bellarmine and make them make mistakes and I thought our back four did an excellent job defensively in doing that. And what a great shot from Cassie. She is a great midfielder and has that ability to score from long distance as you could see tonight."
 
The Tritons wasted no time getting on the board as freshman McKayla Harder headed in senior Jaylon Griffith's cross to the right side of the box with four minutes and 50 seconds played. Senior Sidney Allen was also credited with an assist for starting the scoring play - her team-leading ninth of the season.
 
However, Bellarmine countered nearly five minutes later with the equalizer as Darcy Egan shot past Tritons keeper Megan Ohm into the right corner.
 
Ohm came up with a big save in the 27^th minute as GLVC Offensive Player of the Year Mary Beth Gorham fired a shot from outside the 18, but a diving Ohm stopped the ball to keep the score at 1-1.
 
Both teams placed three shots on goal in the opening 45 minutes, but Bellarmine held an 8-5 advantage in shots.
 
The Tritons outshot the Knights 14-12 in the contest, including 9-4 in the second half and placed seven shots on goal. Harder took five shots, landing three on target.
 
Ohm recorded three saves and added a second spectacular stop late in the second half, jumping to punch out Lauren Holder's shot.