Women's Soccer Scoreboard (Oct. 8)
Cleveland State 1, Wright State 0 (OT)
Detroit 1, Youngstown State 0
Green Bay 2, Milwaukee 0
Valparaiso 2, UIC 1
Cleveland State 1, Wright State 0
Kaila Sargema scored off an assist from Allie Sieradzki four minutes into overtime to give Cleveland State a 1-0 victory over Wright State on Wednesday night in Horizon League women's soccer action at Krenzler Field.
The Vikings improved to 6-6-2 overall and 1-2-1 in the Horizon League, earning three key points and giving first year head coach Sonia Curvelo her first league victory. The Raiders fell to 4-8-1 overall and 1-2-1 in the league.
CSU was playing its fourth straight overtime contest, all league matches, and its fifth overtime match in its last six games. The five overtime matches this season are the most in a season in program history.
After a scoreless 90 minutes, the Vikings went into overtime and earned their first win in extra time this year.
Sargema took a feed from Sieradzki on the right wing just inside the box. After a touch, she sent a shot that hit the far post and bounced into the back of the net, setting off a bench clearing celebration on the right sideline.
Sieradzki had the two best chances on goal for CSU in regulation, but both times, her shot sailed just over the crossbar. The first came early in the second half when her header off a Vickie Havas cross just missed. Late in the game, she volleyed a cross that once again just sailed over the crossbar.
Sarah Wood made four saves for the Vikings to earn her fifth shutout of the season.
Detroit 1, Youngstown State 0
Senior defender Victoria Sollestre (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Marian) scored her first collegiate goal in the 80th minute Wednesday to help lift the University of Detroit Mercy women's soccer team to a 1-0 win over visiting Youngstown State University at Titan Field.
The win was the 200th victory in the history of the Detroit women's soccer program as well as the 200th career coaching win for head coach Mike Lupenec, who has been at the helm of the Titan women's soccer program for all 22 seasons.
Detroit improved to 5-5-1 overall and 3-1 in the Horizon League. Youngstown State (6-5-2, 2-1-1 HL) entered the game as the leaders in the conference with seven points, but Detroit takes over first place at nine points with the win.
"This was a tough battle," Lupenec said. "All these Horizon League games are one-goal games and it's about good team defense. We were fortunate enough to score a goal. We beat a team that was undefeated and we're in first place right now. We just have to build on this and take care of the home games."
"On the 200 victories, there should be a lot of people included in getting there -- the players, the athletic directors, I've had three of them, who have showed confidence in me through the years when I struggled. There's been a lot of people involved in the success of this program."
A windy day on the field didn't present many scoring opportunities for either side. There were just three shots total in the first half. Detroit had the only shot on goal in the opening 45 minutes, as sophomore Ellyn Nedwicki (Dearborn, Mich. / Divine Child) had a chance in the 42nd minute.
There weren't many scoring chances in the second half either, but Sollestre found some space on the left side and lifted a long shot towards the goal. Youngstown State goalkeeper Jackie Podolsky came in a few steps before realizing the ball was going over her head. Sollestre's shot ended up out of her reach and into the back of the net with just 10:42 seconds remaining in the game.
Green Bay 2, Milwaukee 0
Earning its first victory over Milwaukee since the 2003 season, the Green Bay women’s soccer team continued its historic year with a 2-0 shutout victory over the Panthers on Wednesday night at Santaga Stadium. The win snaps an 11-game losing streak against UWM and improves Green Bay’s record to 8-3-2 overall and 2-1-0 in Horizon League play.
October 17, 2003, was the last time the Phoenix got the better of its in-state rival. Green Bay won 2-1 in overtime in that game and it has since been 11-straight meetings of Milwaukee owning the Phoenix by a combined 23 goals. That streak ended quickly on Wednesday night.
The visiting Panthers (5-8-1, 1-2-1) never really threatened in the game, with Green Bay controlling possession, momentum and confidence throughout the contest. Junior Heidi Hartmann (Plymouth, Minn.) scored her team and league-leading 11th goal of the season in the 20th minute, which also turned out to be the game-winner. Hartmann worked the ball into great position on the right side of the net, before firing the ball past the keeper despite the unlikely scoring angle.
The Phoenix put nine shots on goal, including six in the first half. The Panthers put a small amount of pressure on the Green Bay defense late in the contest, but like the back line has done throughout this season it held strong. Nastacia Behle (St. Paul, Mo.) registered her fourth clean sheet of the season, needing to make four saves to keep Milwaukee off the board, which was highlighted by a diving effort midway through the second half.
Abby Juzwik (Madison, Wis.) scored her second goal of the season in similar fashion as the first goal she scored, after powering one over the head of the Milwaukee keeper from over 25 yards outside the box. Juzwik scored in the 58th minute, putting a game in which Green Bay had already dominated even further out of reach.
The shutout is the first time Green Bay has kept its rival off the scoreboard since 1996. The eight wins amassed this season are also the most since 2006 when the team went 8-7-2.
Valparaiso 2, UIC 1
Junior Rita Craven (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) matched a program record with her fourth match-winning goal of the season, securing three points for Valparaiso with her goal in the 74th minute as the Crusaders won at UIC Wednesday evening, 2-1.
With the victory, Valpo extended its program-record unbeaten streak to 11 consecutive matches, the last five of which have been Crusader victories. In addition, Valpo is now a perfect 3-0-0 in Horizon League action and is tied at the top of the table with nine points, having a game in hand with fellow three-win squad Detroit.
Craven continued her trend of scoring match-winners on Wednesday with a stellar individual effort, striking a shot from 12 yards out that made its way into the upper-right corner of the net with less than 17 minutes remaining on the clock to break the tie. For Craven, it was her fourth match-winner of the year, tying a mark which had been accomplished by five Crusaders previously, most recently Jackie Kondratko in 2009. It also is the seventh match-winning tally of Craven's career out of eight goals, tying her for second in Valpo's career record book.
While Craven has made a habit of scoring game-winning goals, it was another Crusader on a hot streak who gave Valpo the initial advantage on Wednesday. Sophomore April Cronin (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) dribbled around a trio of defenders to get into the box and unleashed a shot that beat UIC goalkeeper Kelly Fritz in the 26th minute to give the Crusaders a 1-0 lead. Cronin now has points in five consecutive games and has scored goals in four of those five games.
"I thought April and Rita both really had great individual performances tonight," said Crusader head coach John Marovich. "April was very creative and was really dangerous in 1v1 situations, finishing one nicely to give us a lead. Rita followed suit with her goal, as she went straight up the middle and dribbled at a couple defenders to finish."
The Flames, in their first season of competition, would even the match in the 32nd minute on a free kick from Mackeznie Fuller, just the sixth goal the Crusaders have surrendered this season. But after going back on level terms, Valpo continued to control the run of play and pepper UIC with attack after attack, even after both sides were cut down to ten players apiece in the 54th minute after matching red cards, eventually resulting in Craven's match-winner.
Valpo ended the night with a 19-9 advantage in shots over UIC (2-11-0, 0-3-0 Horizon), but the Crusaders barraged Fritz with efforts, putting 18 of their 19 shots on goal. Fritz made a Horizon League season-high 16 saves to prevent the Crusaders from running up their side of the ledger, while on the visitor's side, Sydney Galvez-Daley (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick [Creighton]) had to make just two saves in earning the victory.
"I just liked our team's resiliency tonight, to get through the match and come out with three points," said Marovich. "This game should teach us a lot with regards to all aspects of the game - tactically, physically and emotionally. We have a lot of things from tonight which we can focus on, learn from and improve on, while we can also continue to do the positive things we did tonight. It's exciting to get three more points on the road in league play, as points are always at a premium, but now we have to focus on getting ready for another big game on Saturday."
It was the first goal for Sollestre in her four-year career at Detroit as Wednesday's game was her 64th in a Titan uniform and 53rd start.
Detroit finished the game with five shots, compared to three shots for YSU. The Titans had the edge in corner kicks, 2-1. Junior Sara Zawacki (Dearborn, Mich. / Marian) also had a shot on goal for UDM.
The shutout was Detroit's fifth of the season. The Titans improved to 2-0-1 at home this season and 14-0-1 in its last 15 games played at Titan Field.
