Eagles Shut Out by Spires at Home

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – It was a well-played and well-defended contest, but in the end Avila (3-8-5, 3-5-2 KCAC) could not break through against Saint Mary (4-9-1, 4-4-1 KCAC), and the Spires' lone first half goal was the difference in a 1-0 USM win on Wednesday afternoon at The Z.

For two teams that entered action Wednesday with nearly identical KCAC records, this game had a lot of implications as far as positioning, and potentially even qualification, for the 2022 KCAC Tournament was concerned. In the end, the only goal scored came off a Saint Mary set piece in the first half and even though the Eagles defended well and generated a few more chances than they do on average, they could never manufacture an equalizer to salvage a result.

Both teams were active in the opening 20 minutes, with the Spires blocking two shots from Morgan Pettlon and saving another from Amaris Sigler, and Kenan Ebel making the first three of her many saves, including two off top goal scorer Katy St. Martin. An Eagle foul in the defensive third set Saint Mary up with a scoring chance, and the Spires capitalized: Erin Walden sent her free kick across the box to Morgan Young, who sliced her shot back across toward the left post and just past Ebel to put the Spires on the board in the 28^th minute.

Neither team had a shot on the goal for the remainder of the half, and both defenses buckled down after halftime. Pettlon did her best to engineer some offense with a handful of shot attempts, but none of them found their way through. Avila had a great chance off a Pettlon corner in the final ten minutes, but Kirryn Killingsworth poked her header just high and out of play. Ebel stopped St. Martin twice more in the final six minutes to bring her game total up to nine saves, but Avila ultimately could not break through in a 1-0 USM win.

Lauren Paccapaniccia drew the start and played a solid game in the midfield for the Eagles. Even without the services of Suzie Lopez, one of their top defenders, the Eagle defense put together a strong game in front of Ebel, anchored by Bridgit Conway and Adelynn Link, both of whom played all 90 minutes and were involved in a couple of blocked shots.

Up next for Avila is a road trip to York, Nebraska to take on the Panthers in what is quickly becoming a must-have game for the Eagles. Kickoff from York is scheduled for 1 PM with the men's game to follow; as always, you can watch all the action on the KCAC Sports Network.