Women's Soccer Scoreboard (Oct. 4)
Cleveland State 1, Milwaukee 1 (2OT)
Detroit 1, UIC 0 (OT)
Green Bay 1, Wright State 0
Valparaiso 2, Loyola 1
Youngstown State 1, Oakland 0
Cleveland State 1, Milwaukee 1
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team was able to fight back after a shaky start but had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Cleveland State University Saturday afternoon from Engelmann Stadium.
UWM (5-7-1) dominated the stat sheet on the day, outshooting the Vikings (5-6-2) by a count of 17-7, including blasting 14 shots after the first half.
Sydney Senn nearly won the game for Milwaukee in the second overtime, but her header curled just wide of the goal in the game's waning moments.
In a rather lifeless first half, Cleveland State was able to make the most of their best opportunity of the game. Vickie Havas took a free kick just outside the box for the Vikings and was able to find the head of Amanda Sivic. She was able to get just enough on it from a tough angle to beat the defense and give CSU the 1-0 early lead at the 25:11 mark.
Milwaukee came out of the locker room with some more urgency and it showed right away.
Maria Stephans launched a great long ball through the defense for a streaking Kelly Lewers. The defending league player of the year one-timed her shot and buried it in the back of the net to level things up at 1-1 just 2:53 into the second stanza.
The Panthers continued their attack in the second half, sending numbers forward and creating numerous scoring chances.
In the 61st minute, Lewers had a shot blocked inside the box. The rebound fell to freshman Anna Smalley who gave it a go but her shot, too, was turned away by the Viking defense.
Cassidy Blanchard had a header in the 74th minute that had some pace on it, but again the Cleveland State defense was up to the task.
In overtime, Milwaukee again dominated possession and chances. Senn's header on a beautiful ball sent in by Amy Kauffung inside the box looked like it might be the winner but it curled just wide at the last second.
Freshman Emily Senger picked up the tie for UWM, making her collegiate debut in net after halftime.
Detroit 1, UIC 0
Senior Alyssa Riley (Whitby, Ont. / Father Leo J. Austin) scored off a free kick from junior Alyssa Lotito (Macomb, Mich. / Eisenhower) with 1:34 remaining in the first overtime period to lead the University of Detroit Mercy women's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over UIC on Saturday at Flames Field.
Neither team scored during the first 90 minutes of the match in Chicago. In overtime, Detroit earned a free kick from about 30 yards out and Riley headed in the kick from Lotito to give the Titans the win. Detroit improved to 2-1 in the Horizon League and 4-5-1 overall with the win.
"Any win is a big win," Titan women's soccer head coach Mike Lupenec said. "It wasn't a good first half. We were getting out-worked and weren't physical enough. I gave them probably one of my top-five halftime speeches of all time and they responded. Sometimes you have to let to know you are upset. In the second half and overtime we took over the game. We had some quality scoring chances."
"Riley stepped up. She had an excellent game today. She left it all on the field. Lotito threw her a nice ball. Give a credit to the back line. Set piece 35 yards out and Riley timed it the right way. She did a great job of putting it away."
The goal for Riley was her fourth of the season, which leads the team. Lotito's assist was the fourth of the season for the junior defender, which also is a team high.
Freshman goalkeeper Marina Manzo (Washington Twp., Mich. / Romeo) made two saves in goal to earn her fourth shutout of the season.
Both teams finished with eight shots for the game, while Detroit had three shots on goal. Riley had four of the eight shots for the Titans and two of the three shots on goal. Sophomore Anna Mindling (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Grand Rapids Christian) also had two shots for UDM.
With the victory, UDM head coach Mike Lupenec is also one win shy of 200 for his coaching career.
Green Bay 1, Wright State 0
Receiving a beautiful long-distance goal from Rhiana Stelter (Waukesha, Wis.) in the 83rd minute, the Green Bay women’s soccer team was able to earn its first Horizon League victory on Saturday afternoon by defeating Wright State 1-0 at Alumni Field.
The Phoenix now stands at 1-1-0 in conference play and improve its overall record to 7-3-2. Stelter scored the only goal of the game and it came from about 20 yards out as the senior floated one into the back of the net over the head of the Raiders’ goalkeeper.
“Today was a very complete performance by our roster and I am extremely proud of their commitment. These conference matchups take grit, courage, intelligence and execution and today they were up to the task,” head coach Kacey Burke said.
The two teams each recorded four shots on goal, in what turned out to be a cold and uncomfortable afternoon. Wright State earned six corner kicks to Green Bay’s one.
The shutout marks the fourth time this season that the Phoenix has kept its opponents off the scoreboard. The win is also the first time Green Bay has won on the road in conference play since 2012 and just the third time total since 2010.
The Phoenix also avenged last season’s 1-0 defeat versus the Raiders and snapped a losing streak to Wright State that dated back to 2005.
“To come away with a win on the road, against a very dangerous Wright State team, speaks volumes about our team resolve,” Burke said.
Valparaiso 2, Loyola 1
On Senior Night at Brown Field for the Valparaiso women’s soccer team, it was only fitting that a senior would register the match-winning goal, as Kristen Warner’s first career goal would stand as the eventual match-winner in a 2-1 victory over Loyola Saturday evening. With the win, the Crusaders extended their unbeaten streak to ten consecutive matches.
Prior to the match, Valpo honored the five members of this season’s senior class. Warner, Kelsey Draper (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg), Erika Schoemann (Calgary, Alberta/Saint Mary’s) and Abby Kenyon (Canton, Ohio/Jackson) have been with the Crusader program since the 2011 campaign, while Kaylee Draper (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg [Bowling Green]) transferred in prior to this season.
The Crusaders got on the board in the 21st minute, scoring on their fifth shot attempt of the night. Schoemann sent a long diagonal pass in from her spot on the back line, springing April Cronin (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) behind the Rambler defense. Cronin ran onto the ball, and with just goalkeeper Monica Gonyo to beat, calmly tapped it past her into the back of the net for her third goal of the season.
Just over two minutes later, Valpo would double its lead on a superb individual effort from Warner. The senior gained possession in the 23rd minute 30 yards out from goal, just right of the center of the park. Warner drilled a shot from there which Gonyo had no shot at, as the golazo rifled into the upper-left corner of the net for a 2-0 Crusader lead.
"I thought that after the first few minutes, we settled in and had a pretty good rhythm," said Crusader head coach John Marovich. "Erika's ball to April was something we thought would be there - Erika hit a quality ball, and April did a nice job collecting it and tucking it away. Getting that goal really relaxed our group, and over the next 20 min or so, we had a really nice rhythm. A little later, Kristen did what she does so well, finding a pocket of space to get a good shot off, and ended up finding the goal. Going up 2-0 was a huge way to start the match."
Loyola cut the lead in half early in the second half, as in the 61st minute, a Crusader defender headed a cross in the air from the right flank into the back of Valpo’s net for an own goal, making it a 2-1 game. But the Crusaders would not allow the Ramblers to equalize, as both of their shots on goal over the final 30 minutes were saved by redshirt sophomore Sydney Galvez-Daley (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick).
"Loyola put us under a bit of pressure when we were up 2-0, and we didn't handle it as well as we would have liked," said Marovich. "The good news is that it teaches us in a non-league game how we need to respond in dangerous and critical moments. The own goal was unfortunate, but those things happen, and it just added to the adversity we had to deal with. I thought our players responded appropriately - they moved on right away and did what we needed to do in order to kill the game off."
Galvez-Daley made six saves in earning the victory, while Gonyo stopped five shots for Loyola (4-9-0). The Crusaders out-shot the Ramblers on the evening, 13-12, as they continue to out-shoot their opponents in every match this season.
Youngstown State 1, Oakland 0
Sophomore Kathy Baquero's goal in the 14th minute was all the offense needed as the Youngstown State women's soccer team defeated Oakland, 1-0, on Saturday evening at Farmers National Bank Field. Senior goalkeeper Jackie Podolsky also broke the school's all-time wins record.
With the win, the Penguins improve to 6-4-2 overall and 2-0-1 in the Horizon League while Oakland falls to 3-9-1 overall and 1-2-0 in the league.
The win marks the fourth this season for Podolsky and the 13th of her career.
Junior Katie Hohmann centered a pass into the left side of the penalty box where Baquero's header found the right-corner of the goal past a diving Allison Holland at the 13:05 mark. The goal was Baquero's team-leading fifth score of the season and Hohmann's third assist of the year.
The Golden Grizzlies outshot the Penguins in the first half, 6-4, and Joan Sieja nearly tied the match at the 19:59 mark when her shot bounced off the crossbar.
Freshman Katie Hackos's shot on goal at the 23:13 mark was saved by an Oakland defender while Holland denied senior Chelsey Haney's shot-on-goal attempt at 35:06.
The Penguins continued putting pressure on the Golden Grizzlies' defense with four shots in the first seven minutes of the second half.
Baquero's header was saved by Holland at the 45:35 mark, Hohmann's shot went wide at 49:35, Holland made a save on Tyesha Kizer's attempt at 50:41 and Cara Armstrong shot at 51:54 sailed wide right.
Oakland took just four shots in the second half, compared to eight for the Penguins, and none were on goal.
For the match, the Penguins outshot Oakland, 12-10, and had six shots on goal to zero for the Golden Grizzlies. Each team had three corner kicks while the Penguins were whistled for 16 fouls to Oakland's 10.
