Three Wins for #HLWSOC on Friday Night

Women's Soccer Scoreboard (Sept. 19)
Cleveland State 4, Eastern Kentucky 0
Valparaiso 3, Eastern Illinois 1
Wright State 5, Tennessee Tech 0
Oakland 1, Kent State 1 (2ot)
Akron 1, Youngstown State 0 (ot)
Saint Louis 4, UIC 0

Cleveland State 4, Eastern Kentucky 0
The Cleveland State women's soccer team used a pair of Vickie Havas goals and another strong defensive performance to defeat Eastern Kentucky, 4-0, on Friday night at Krenzler Field.

It was the third straight shutout for the Vikings, extending their streak of not allowing a goal to 298 minutes. CSU has not allowed a goal since Sept. 7 in the 82nd minute against Kent State.

It is the second time in the 11-year history of the program that the Vikings have notched three consecutive shutouts, the last time coming in 2010 when CSU blanked Gannon, Kent State and UMKC from Aug. 27-Sept. 3.

The Vikings, who improved to 5-4-1 with tonight's win, are 5-1-1 over their last seven matches. EKU fell to 2-6.

Havas' two goals allowed her to move into sole possession of second place in the CSU record book with 15 goals, just five shy of passing Natalie Daniels who scored 19 times from 2008-11.

The Vikings wasted little time in jumping on the board, using a Havas goal just six minutes in off an assist from Kelcey Fischer to give CSU a 1-0 lead. Havas would strike again in the 35th minute to make it 2-0.

Chloe Fadenholz started the play by slipping a pass to Havas at the top of the box. Havas settled and controlled the ball before beating the EKU goalkeeper and burying her third goal of the season.

The Vikings extended their lead to 3-0 with just over 90 seconds to play in the first half when Erin O'Toole netted her third career goal. The play began with a corner kick that EKU was unable to clear. Payton Lewis took control at the top of the box and unloaded a shot that was saved, but O'Toole was there for the rebound.

The lead extended to 4-0 just four minutes into the second half when Havas played a through ball to Haleigh Shingary who worked her way up the left sideline before sending a cross that Sarah Kaiser headed in for her second goal this year.

The Vikings held a 13-7 advantage in shots, as CSU's backline of Fischer, Marissa Sarsfield, Megan Barrick, O'Toole and Samantha Sarmento did not allow a goal for the third straight match.

Sarah Wood made one save in the first 60 minutes, while Jamie Daniels played the final 29 minutes, posting two saves.

Valparaiso 3, Eastern Illinois 1
The Valparaiso women’s soccer team found the back of the net three times in the second half, overcoming a 1-0 halftime deficit to earn a 3-1 road victory over Eastern Illinois at Charleston, Ill. Friday afternoon.  With the win, the Crusaders extended their unbeaten streak to seven straight contests.

Valpo’s seven-match undefeated streak (3-0-4) is its longest since a stretch of seven consecutive matches spanning the end of the 2011 and beginning of the 2012 seasons.  It also marks the Crusaders’ longest single-season unbeaten streak since they won seven straight fixtures late in the 2009 campaign.

While the Crusaders’ unbeaten streak continued on Friday, their shutout streak would come to an end, as the Panthers found the back of the net in the 31st minute on a header re-direct by Lindsey Marino.  The shutout streak came to a close at 466 minutes, and the goal was the first Valpo had surrendered in the run of play since the season’s opening match.

“We did a nice job of keeping the ball in the first half, but didn't quite find the frame as we seemed to rush things once in the attacking third,” said Crusader head coach John Marovich on the team’s first three-quarters of an hour.

But the one-goal deficit wouldn’t face the Crusaders, who scored three second-half goals for the come-from-behind victory.  The equalizer came in the 58th minute on a play started by sophomore April Cronin (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook), who attacked the left flank, turned the corner and got to the end line.  Cronin spotted redshirt freshman Vanesa Abad (Barrington, Ill./Lake Zurich [Ohio State]) filling the slot and hit her for a first-time finish to the left post.  For Abad, it marked her team-best third goal of the season.

Less than 10 minutes later, Valpo took the lead for good.  Junior Rita Craven (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) got past a defender on the right flank and sent in a cross towards the far post.  On the receiving end of the pass was Cronin, in perfect position for a header to make it 2-1 Crusaders.

The Crusaders would not rest on their laurels, securing the win with an insurance tally in the 81st minute.  Sophomore Robin Wenzel (Woodstock, Ill./Marian Central Catholic) won a battle for the ball and earned a one-on-one opportunity with EIU goalkeeper Emily Hinton.  Wenzel finished inside the back post for her first goal of the year, making it 3-1 Valpo.

“In the second half, we really dictated the tempo of the play and were able to stretch the width of the park,” said Marovich.  “This allowed our athletes to be more patient in the attacks up the flanks, opening up more seams in front of the goal for finishes.  I am proud how our team responded in the second half to some adversity and displayed urgency in the final third.  The timing and shape of the runs into the box today were outstanding in the second half.”

Valpo dominated Friday’s action, registering 20 shots against eight for Eastern Illinois (0-7-1) and also picking up six corner kicks while not surrendering a single one.  Redshirt sophomore Sydney Galvez-Daley (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick [Creighton]) had to make just one save to earn the victory.

Wright State 5, Tennessee Tech 0
Five different Raiders scored as the women's soccer offense exploded for a 5-0 win over Tennessee Tech Friday at Alumni Field.

Going into the match, WSU had managed just three goals over its first seven matches, but offense would not be a problem in this one as the Raiders led 2-0 at the half on goals by freshmen Bryce Hueber, her second of the season, and Megan Wilcox, her first.  Fellow freshman Ellie Ganz picked up the assist on the Hueber goal while sophomore Paige Aguilera did the same with the Wilcox goal.

In the second half, Ganz scored her first collegiate goal on an assist by Savannah Carmosino, her first assist of the season, and the lead grew to 4-0 on a goal by junior Natalie Sedlock.  Freshman Stevee Hazel rounded out the scoring with her first collegiate goal.

Goalkeepers Halle Pyle and Kelsey Deal combined on the shutout as WSU outshot TTU 22-4.

Oakland 1, Kent State 1 (2ot)
The Oakland women's soccer team (1-7-1) played Kent State (4-2-1) to a 1-1 double-overtime draw Friday afternoon at Zoeller Field. Kyla Kellermann tallied her team-high third goal with Katy Wagner recording her first assist of the season. Stephanie Bukovec stood tall in goal recording a season-high nine saves while facing 22 shots. Annie Quiroga and Alice Palmer accounted for six of Oakland’s 13 shots.

“Great team performance today against a strong Kent State side,” said head coach Margaret Saurin. “We created a number of chances and were rewarded for our hard work with a strike from Kyla. We also had tremendous team and individual defending that kept us in the game and allowed us to continue to create chances throughout the match. I am very proud of our performance tonight and could not ask for anymore from our players. They gave everything today and deserved the point.”

Kellermann gave Oakland a 1-0 lead during the 33rd minute of the first half. Sarah Reynolds won a hard fought ball in the air and found Wagner. She in turn passed the ball to Kellermann who took the feed, turned and fired a blast from 25 yards out past Kent State goalkeeper Stephanie Senn.

The Golden Grizzles would hold its lead until the 66th minute of the second half when KSU’s Karli Paracca scored off a rebound to tie the game at 1-1.

Akron 1, Youngstown State 0 (ot)
A goal by Katrina Atkinson in the 99th minute lifted Akron past the Youngstown State women's soccer team, 1-0, in overtime on Friday evening First Energy Stadium Cub Cadet Field.

With just 1:32 left in the first overtime period, Atkinson drove into the middle of the penalty box and scored when her shot deflected off the left post into the goal.

The Penguins fall to 4-4-1 overall while the Zips improve to 4-3-1.

Possessing the ball in Zips territory for much of the match, the Penguins were outshot by the Zips, 12-8, including eight shots on goal to three.

Senior goalkeeper Jackie Podolsky turned in another solid performance in the net with seven saves, including stopping a one-on-one attempt in the 60th minute.

Katie Hohmann, Chelsey Haney and Sydney Riddle each had shots on goal, and Cara Armstrong's shot attempt at the 91:24 mark sailed just wide right of the net.

Bukovec and the defense held on late in the second overtime clearing back-to-back corner kick chances to preserve the draw.

Saint Louis 4, UIC 2
The UIC women’s soccer team (1-7-0) scored two goals in the second half against Saint Louis (4-4-0) on Friday night, but ultimately fell in the home match by a final score of 4-2. Freshman Sydney Wright and sophomore Kendall Wilde tallied UIC’s goals and the first of their collegiate careers.  Three first-half scores for the Billlikens proved too much for the Flames to overcome despite outscoring SLU in the final period.

Saint Louis’ Lindsay Elking netted the first two goals of the contest at the 22:16 and 30:27 marks. Elking then assisted on the Billikens third goal in the 39th minute, setting up teammate Danielle Manning.

UIC compiled four shots in the first half, including three on goal, but SLU racked up 11 total shot attempts as the Flames went into the break down 3-0.

Wright struck at the 50:26 mark after receiving a pass from sophomore Jasmine Carrera from the top of the box and then converting with a boot on the close left side. Carrera earned her first helper on the season and leads the squad with seven points (three goals and one assist).

Saint Louis answered with a goal 20 seconds later from Cristina Rodriguez. She took a pass from Danielle Tolmais on penalty kick that was redirected.

Wilde notched UIC’s second score at the 83:22 mark after she stole the ball from a SLU defender and sent a dart to the back of the net, cementing the 4-2 final outcome.

Keeper Kelly Fritz amassed 10 saves on the evening, bringing her season total to 44.