The Westminster College Blue Jays soccer team is starting to make this a habit.
Junior forward Drew Cook's goal in the 20th minute put Westminster in front to stay as the top-seeded Blue Jays turned back No. 3 Webster University 2-1 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament championship Friday night at Fulton High School.
With the victory, Westminster (17-2) earned the SLIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III national tournament for the third straight year. The Blue Jays - who were also the conference's regular-season champions with a 9-0 mark - will learn their first-round opponent and location in the national tournament Monday afternoon.
Westminster raced out to a quick lead Friday night when junior forward Josh Jaycox produced an unassisted goal in the 9th minute. The Gorloks (9-9-3) pulled even 6 minutes later on an unassisted goal from Zach Gyuricza.
Cook then answered with his pivotal goal - off sophomore midfielder Daniel Barone's assist - to give the Blue Jays the lead for good.
Westminster outshot Webster 32-15, but had just a 7-6 edge in shots on goal. The Gorloks owned a slight 6-5 advantage in corner kicks.
Freshman goalkeeper Tanner Moesch came up with five saves to collect the win for the Blue Jays.
Jaycox was named the tournament's most valuable player, while Barone, Moesch and sophomore back Austin Chandler were selected to the all-tournament team.