2011 Horizon League Women's Soccer Tournament Bracket
The 2011 Horizon League Women's Soccer Tournament gets underway on Tuesday, with No. 3 Valparaiso and No. 4 Cleveland State hosting opening round matches. The Crusaders welcome No. 6 Butler to Eastgate Field at 2 p.m. ET, while fifth-seeded Wright State heads to Krenzler Field for a 4 p.m. ET match, live on the Horizon League Network.
Valparaiso (8-6-4, 4-2-2 Horizon) hosted Butler (8-9-1, 3-5-0 Horizon) on Oct. 19, claiming a 1-0 win in a match that was played in a driving rain storm. Mikki Nuccio netted the game-winner for the Crusaders with just five seconds left in the first half, finding the back of the net on a strike from the top of the 18.
The Crusaders' defense has been firm all year, as Valpo has posted nine shutouts after blanking Youngstown State in last week's finale. Kristen Manski has led the way in net, turning in seven of those shutouts.
Butler will be looking to snap a slide that has seen the Bulldogs drop four of their last five matches. Still, Butler has two of the League's most formidable scorers in Katie Griswold and Elise Kotsakis. The duo has combined for 12 goals and three assists on the year, with the goals total accounting for nearly half of Butler's 25 on the year.
At Krenzler Field, Cleveland State and Wright State tangle for the second time in less than a week. Last Friday, the Vikings traveled to Dayton and handed the Raiders a 2-1 defeat, vaulting CSU from the No. 6 to the No. 4 seed in the tournament.
CSU scored the last two goals of the match after I'esha King's fourth goal in her last three games put Wright State out front, 1-0. Taylor Vidovic, the leading scorer for Cleveland State, knotted the contest with her seventh goal of the season before Frederike Dubeau netted a cross with four minutes to play in regulation.
Pressure will be on for a trio of high-scoring seniors in the match: Brittany Persaud and Bekah Bonny of Wright State and CSU's Natalie Daniels. All three earned First Team All-League honors in postseason awards balloting.
Persaud and Bonny are the two leading scorers for the Raiders, with Bonny collecting a team-best six goals and Persuad handing out nine assists to go along with four goals. Daniels heads into the tournament as Cleveland State's all-time leader in goals (19), assists (19) and points (57). Moving into a facilitator's role this season, Daniels leads the Vikings with six assists and is second with 12 points.
