Whorton's Goal In Second OT Lifts Panthers Past UMSL 1-0 In GLVC Tournament Opener
Drury Sports Information
11/1/2009 5:28:50 PM
DU's Micah Whorton (left) celebrates game-winner vs. UMSL
Junior Micah Whorton banged home the game-winner with 4:17 left in the second sudden death overtime period, lifting top-seeded Drury to a 1-0 victory over eighth seed Missouri-St. Louis in the opener of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Sunday at Harrison Stadium.
Whorton followed up a pass from junior Peter Higgins, who picked up the assist, to push the Panthers (18-1-0) into next weekend's GLVC Tourney semifinals, which they will host at Harrison on Friday night. The Panthers will host No. 5 seed Bellarmine at 7:30 p.m.,- Drury beat the Knights 2-1 in overtime last month in Louisville - with No. 3 seed Lewis and No. 2 seed Northern Kentucky meeting at 5 p.m. in the opener.
Bellarmine upset No. 4 seed Wisconsin-Parkside 4-0; Lewis defeated sixth-seed Quincy 1-0 and Northern Kentucky outlasted No. 7 seed Missouri S & T 3-2 in Sunday's other first-round matchups.
Drury will also host the GLVC Tournament championship match on Sunday at noon at Harrison.
The Panthers, ranked fourth nationally, were frustrated throughout the match by a packed-in UMSL defense that limited Drury's opportunities for open looks.
"I think it was very similiar to the last time we played them ... they're a very well organized team," Drury coach Ryan Swan said. "I think our guys were getting a little frustrated through regulation, because we're always confident that we're going to get a goal from somewhere. I think the guys were pushing forward, and believing we could score, and in the end it paid off. We got one."
The Panthers did get off 22 shots in the contest to four by the Tritons (9-7-2), but none proved successful until Higgins worked his way up the right sideline, beat his defender on the touch line and fired a pass into heavy traffic to Whorton, who sent DU on to the GLVC semifinals for the second straight year with his 13th goal of the season.
Sophomore keeper Stephen Conner picked up his school-record 12th shutout of the season, coming up with two saves, as the Panthers posted their 13th shutout as a team, also a school mark.
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