Valpo Wins, YSU Ties on Sunday in #HLWSOC Action

Women's Soccer Scoreboard (Sept. 7)
Valparaiso 3, Western Illinois 0
Youngstown State 1, Purdue 1 (2ot)
Colorado 3, Detroit 0
DePaul 3, Milwaukee 2
Kent State 1, Cleveland State 0
Loyola 1, Green Bay 0 (ot)

Valparaiso 3, Western Illinois 0
The Valparaiso women’s soccer team picked up its first victory of the season Sunday afternoon and its fourth result in the first five games, earning a road win at Western Illinois, 3-0.

Entering the game with no goals in the first half this season and just one in their last 10 games dating back to last year, the Crusaders found the back of the net in the 17th minute to get on the board early.  Sophomore Robin Wenzel (Woodstock, Ill./Marian Central Catholic) got behind the back line to the end line and sent a terrific cross into the box, where junior Rita Craven (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) was there to finish with a quality first touch to the far post to make it 1-0 Valpo.

“Our first goal really started with Grace Rogers (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury),” said Crusader head coach John Marovich.  “She played a great ball in to Robin in stride to start the play – that showed a great ability to get the ball into open space when that space was there.”

Then, the Crusaders got a key goal right before the intermission to give themselves a two-goal lead going into halftime.  Following an offside call on WIU in the 44th minute, Rogers played a ball deep to sophomore Kat Anesini (Seattle, Wash./Ballard).  Anesini let the ball take a bounce, where it cleared the Leathernecks’ back line and left the sophomore 1-v-1 with WIU goalkeeper Victoria Kappel.  Anesini finished well to beat Kappel and make it 2-0 Crusaders.

Valpo closed out the scoring in the 73rd minute of play.  Again, the Crusaders played up the right side, as freshman Lily Chetosky (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale) made a delayed run to wait for help in the middle.  Chetosky sent a hard cross into the back post, at the edge of the six-yard box, and redshirt freshman Vanesa Abad (Barrington, Ill./Lake Zurich [Ohio State]) took advantage and found the back of the net to make it 3-0 Valpo.

"I thought all three goals were quite quality, and we had a couple nice chances after our third to make it four," said Marovich.  "Our quality down the right side was very good today - both Robin and Lily did a great job on that side."

18 players saw action for the Crusaders Sunday as they posted their third shutout of the season, with redshirt sophomore Sydney Galvez-Daley (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick [Creighton]) making a career-best eight saves for her third clean sheet.  Valpo out-shot Western Illinois (1-5-0) 18-13 and took six corner kicks to the Leathernecks’ one.

"I thought Kat, coming in midway through the first half, did a really good job with the shape and quality of her runs to create space and chances for herself and others," said Marovich.  "Kelsey Draper was also very good today, helping to keep us in an attacking mindset.  Obviously anytime you can keep a clean sheet while playing 18 players, it's a testament to the overall work the group put in today - it was high quality all around."

Youngstown State 1, Purdue 1 (2ot)
Sophomore Tyesha Kizer scored her first goal of the season and senior goalkeeper posted 10 saves as the Youngstown State women's soccer team came back to tie Purdue, 1-1, Sunday, at Farmers National Bank Field.

The Penguins move to 3-2-1 overall while the Boilermakers are now 4-1-1.

With the Penguins trailing 1-0 at the half, Kizer grabbed a loose ball in front of the Purdue penalty box and lifted a shot from 20 yards out over the outstretched arms Purdue's Erika Yohn. The goal knotted the game at 1-1 with 42:58 left in the match.

Podolsky, who faced 31 total shots, staved a fierce assault by the Boilermakers in the second half.

She recorded seven of her 10 saves in hte second half, but none was bigger than her stop of a Maddy Williams penalty kick in the 62nd minute.

The Penguins made a run with less than 10 minutes left when Kizer Rachel Hutton and Kathy Baquero each had shots on goal.

Purdue grabbed a 1-0 lead 19 minutes into the match when Maddy Williams beat Podolsky with a shot to the lower left corner of the goal. Andrea Petrina slipped a pass through the Penguins defense and perfectly led Williams for the shot attempt.

About 10 minutes later, the Penguins took a flurry of three shots in a 53 second span, but two by Sydney Riddle and Chelsey Haney were block and the third from Courtney Lavin was saved by Purdue's Erika Yohn.

As the first half closed, Haney had another shot block and Abby Kenski's shot with 23 seconds left sailed wide.

Colorado 3, Detroit 0
The University of Detroit Mercy women's soccer team concluded its' weekend in Colorado on Sunday afternoon, dropping its second-straight match in a 3-0 defeat at the University of Colorado.

Playing in its second road contest in three days in the thin air, the Titans (1-3-1) trailed by one goal at halftime before allowing two second-half tallies by the Buffaloes (4-2).

The Buffaloes scored 3:26 into the contest as Carly Bolyard snuck a shot past Detroit freshman goalkeeper Marina Manzo (Washington Township, Mich. / Romeo) to the far post. Colorado's 1-0 lead stood until halftime, as Manzo turned away eight shots during the first 45 minutes. Colorado had 11 shots in the first half.

Colorado made it 2-0 in the 63rd minute as Brooke Rice poked a shot over a charging Manzo and into the back of the net. The Buffaloes added the final tally nine minutes later in the 72nd minute.

Detroit junior forward Sara Zawacki (Dearborn, Mich. / Marian) had a good look at the goal late in the game, but her attempt was turned away by Colorado goalkeeper Kenzie Tillitt on a diving save.

Manzo was active in net for the Titans, turning away a season-high nine shots total. Detroit was out-shot in the match, 21-4.

DePaul 3, Milwaukee 2
Morgan LaPlant scored two goals in a six-minute span and the Panthers fired off 13 shots on the day but the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team fell just short to an undefeated DePaul squad, 3-2, Sunday afternoon at Engelmann Stadium.

UWM (1-5) had numerous chances late in the game to knot things back up, including the closing seconds, but a shot by Kelly Lewers banged off the crossbar just seconds before time expired.

DePaul is now 6-0 on the year and off to its best start in program history.

"We took a step forward from Friday night," Milwaukee head coach Greg Henschel said. "I continue to be encouraged by the steps our team is taking. We're close and we showed that today. To get up 2-0 against (DePaul) is a positive statement.

"We're creating chances right now, and that's evident. We're going to continue to create chances. I'm pleased with our overall performance, it's just some finishing moments on both ends of the field right now that we need to sort out and clean up and just become a little bit tougher."

Milwaukee jumped all over the undefeated Blue Demons right out of the gates.

Controlling the ball from the start of the game, it seemed only a matter of time until the Panthers found the back of the net.

That time came just 12:04 into the contest as Maria Stephans fired a shot that was blocked by the defense but fell right to the feet of LaPlant, who calmly placed the ball near post to give Milwaukee the early lead.

Just five and a half minutes later, it was LaPlant again. This time the play was set up as Krissy Dorre slotted the ball into the box to Kelly Lewers. The defending league player of the year crossed the ball to the opposite side where LaPlant slipped past the DePaul defenders and one-timed her shot for her second goal of the season.

The Blue Demons were able to answer back, however, as goals by Ana Griek and Alexa Ben knotted the game up at 2-2 heading into the break.

Milwaukee continued to pound the ball at DPU goalkeeper Alejandria Godinez, with shots from all over the field.

In the 71st minute, Dorre turned and drove past her defender only to see her shot go just over the bar.

One minute later, Amy Kauffung blasted a ball from the right wing that found the feet of Lewers inside the box where she was just able to get a touch on the ball but it went just inches wide of the post.

It was Cassidy Blanchard's turn in the 75th minute as the freshman pounded a header that looked like it was going into goal but again went just wide.

With the Panthers pushing hard for the winning goal, DePaul was able to force a turnover and capitalize on a fast break that saw transfer Abby Reed score her sixth goal in just five games with just 14 minutes remaining.

UWM showed no quit, however, continuing to push at the DPU defense.

The final chance came in the final seconds of the game. A great ball from Aubrey Krahn found Lewers in the box. With a defender on her back, the keeper charging and the final seconds ticking on the clock, Lewers fired her shot that just hit the crossbar and caromed away as the horn sounded.

Paige Lincicum made four saves in each half, the second-straight game she has tallied eight saves in a game.

DePaul held a narrow 15-13 edge in shots in the offensive-heavy contest, while corners were even at 4-4. UWM was whistled for nine fouls on the day to the Blue Demon's four.

Kent State 1, Cleveland State 0
The Cleveland State women's soccer team had its three-match win streak snapped with a 1-0 setback to Kent State on Sunday afternoon at Krenzler Field.

The Vikings, who were playing for the fifth time in 10 days, fell to 3-4, while Kent State improved to 4-1. It was Kent's first match since last Sunday.

The lone goal of the match was scored with just under eight minutes to play when Madison Helterbran netted her first goal of the season with a free kick from just outside the top of the box after a CSU foul.

Sarah Wood made six saves for the Vikings, while Stephanie Senn made one save to earn the win in goal for Kent.

Loyola 1, Green Bay 0 (ot)