Washington U. Women’s Soccer Drops Season Opener to Illinois Wesleyan, 1-0

The No. 8 Washington University in St. Louis women's soccer team dropped its season opener in a 1-0 loss to Illinois Wesleyan University on Tuesday night at Francis Field in St. Louis, Mo. IWU's Emily Hinchman scored the game-winning goal with under nine minutes left in the contest as she took a pass from Tori Samson and beat WU freshman goalkeeper Clara Jacques with a shot to the far corner. Illinois Wesleyan (1-0) controlled the play the first 25 minutes of the game, and had four corner kicks in the first half. Senior Libby Held gave Washington U. its best opportunity to score in the first 45 minutes after her shot from 50 yards out deflected off the cross bar at the 26:02 mark. The Bears had just two shots in the first half, and were outshot 3-2. The Bears controlled early play in the second half, and had a golden opportunity to tie it up but a shot from senior Caryn Rosoff was snagged by Alli Novak to keep the game knotted at 0-0. Washington U. outshot IWU, 8-4, in the second half and 10-7 for the game. The Bears also had an 8-4 advantage in corner kicks, including 7-0 in the second half. Jacques made one save and picked up the loss in her first career start. Novak recorded the win for Illinois Wesleyan in goal making four saves and picking up the shutout. Washington University (0-1) returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 5, against No. 6 ranked Johns Hopkins University at the John Hopkins Tournament in Baltimore, Md. The game is scheduled to begin at Noon (ET). Bear Notebook: All 11 meetings between Washington University and Illinois Wesleyan series have been a one goal or fewer differential … Illinois Wesleyan leads the all-time series, 4-3-4 … The Bears have been shutout three-consecutive games dating back to last season. Christopher MitchellDirector, Sports Information Washington University in St. Louis (314) 935-5077 (Office) (618) 560-9280 (Cell) (314) 935-4600 (Fax) mitchell@wustl.edu (Email)http://bearsports.wustl.edu