Nov. 2, 2005

Box Score

Mobile, Ala - Alicia Dalby scored a goal in the 54th minute, ending the Pioneers' chances for a fourth Sun Belt Conference title as Western Kentucky defeated Denver, 1-0 in the opening round of the SBC Tournament this afternoon. Jenna Billingsley (Littleton, Colo.) led the Pioneers with two shots on goal, while goalkeeper Dani Wiley (Littleton, Colo.) made one save in the match.

"This definitely wasn't the result that we were looking for," head coach Jeff Hooker said. "We faced some adversity this season and we'll be a better team for it next season. We played a tough schedule and had some setbacks but we'll rebound."

The Lady Hilltoppers and the Pioneers battled evenly for the first half with both teams having scoring opportunities. Billingsley had the best scoring opportunity for Denver in the 13th minute of the match. Billingsley took a shot from 18 yards out that was saved by Western Kentucky goalkeeper Meredith Goodson, and seconds later found her through the Lady Hilltopper defense again and blasted another shot that caught Goodson out of position, but the defense found a way to clear it out of the net. The teams both recorded five shots in the first half, but nether could find the back of the net and went into halftime tied, 0-0.

The Pioneers picked up their offense in the second half, putting all seven of their shots on goal, but it was Western Kentucky that found the back of the net. Vanessa Lawson and Kim Wilkowski connected with Dalby, who put the ball behind Wiley for the score. Defender Kyle McFarlane (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) had a chance to score the equalizer in the final minutes of the match but Goodson made the save to preserve the Western Kentucky lead.

DU ends the season with a 9-8-2 and will return eleven of its starters next season as it tries to make another run at the Sun Belt Conference Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.