PICTURED ABOVE: Kelsey Graham made nine saves today to preserve the 0-0 tie at top-ranked Washington University-St. Louis.

St. Louis, Mo. – The Wheaton women's soccer team played Washington University-St. Louis (8-0-1) to a 0-0 tie on Saturday under warm conditions in a battle of nationally ranked teams. The host Bears entered the match ranked first in this week's NSCAA Division III Coaches Poll and Wheaton (8-1-1) is ranked 10th in the same poll.
 
Senior team captain Kelsey Graham returned to action for Wheaton in goal today. Graham was spectacular, making nine saves in the match. She stopped seven shots on goal in the first half and made two more saves in the two overtime periods.
 
Graham stopped a scoring opportunity for the Bears in the 15th minute when she made a save on a long shot attempt by WashU's Olivia Lillegraven.  Another of Graham's first-half saves came when she tipped a Bears header and the ball went out of bounds. A header by Thunder senior Anna Seabolt was saved by WashU goalkeeper Lizzy Crist in the 37th minute as the two teams went to the halftime intermission scoreless. The Bears out-shot the Thunder 11-8 in the opening half.  
 
Seabolt had a tremendous opportunity on a breakaway in the 58th minute, but her shot attempt was stopped by Crist. Another scoring opportunity by Seabolt was again stopped by the Bears' netminder in the 71st minute. WashU out-shot the guests 11-5 in the second half.
 
Wheaton's Kristin Rauh had a shot opportunity in the first minute of action in the first overtime period, however, the shot was wide. Graham made one save in the opening overtime as she stopped the Bears' only shot on goal in the 10-minute period. Graham made an additional save in the second overtime period as she stopped a shot by Katie Chandler in the 105th minute.

Head coach Pete Felske noted, "If you don't bring your best against WASHU they will pick you apart. Today was the best effort we've put forth and it was another great WASHU-Wheaton match. They bring out the best in us in many areas and today was fun to be a part of."

Wheaton will be off until October 3 when the Thunder opens conference play at 4:30 p.m. when Elmhurst College visits Joe Bean Stadium.
 
NOTE WORTHY: Today's result was the first tie for the Thunder in 21 matches, dating back to a 2-2 draw against Calvin College on October 15, 2013…Wheaton holds a 13-4-2 advantage in the all-time series with the Bears, including six consecutive victories heading into today's match…previously the only tie in the series between the two Division III powers was a 0-0 tie in the Sectional Semifinal of the 2009 NCAA Division III Tournament.