Valparaiso’s women’s soccer team opened Homecoming weekend on a
cool, rainy Friday afternoon at Eastgate Field battling Indiana State
to a 3-3 double-overtime draw.
“This obviously isn’t the
result we wanted, but we put three goals on the board so that is a positive,”
head coach John Marovich said
afterwards. “We were not as sharp
defensively today as we have been.”
With wind chills in the low
40s, it was the Sycamores that struck first on the wet field. Katlin Owens sent a cross from the right side
of the penalty area into the box and Erin Bianchi scored the first of her two
goals on the day at the 18:06 mark.
Valpo tied the match at one
with just over 15 minutes remaining before halftime. Jackie
Kondratko (Granger, Ind./Penn H.S.) sent a
cross from the left side that Catherine
Terrrell (Brighton, Mich./Brighton H.S.) redirected in the box
past goalkeeper Emily Lahay for her first collegiate goal.
Just before intermission, Becky Clever (Cincinnati, Ohio/Madeira
H.S.) put the Brown and Gold on top with her first goal of the season. Mikki
Nuccio (Ortonville, Mich./Brandon H.S.) sent a shot in on Lahay
that slipped past her and Clever finished to make it 2-1 Crusaders heading into
the locker room.
Indiana State (3-8-2) tied the match at two just 4:21 into the
second half. Bianchi scored her second
goal of the match on a deflection of a Casey Allbright ball.
Kondratko put Valpo on top
with just 13:02 to play in regulation, as she settled a clearing attempt from
backup netminder Taylor Nelson, and sent a blast into the back of the net from
18 yards out.
Less than four minutes later,
the Sycamores tied the match at three as Alison Gasparovich scored off of a
deflection in the box and the two schools would battle for another 30 minutes
through overtime before finishing in a deadlock.
Valpo controlled the
offensive run of play most of the match, outshooting Indiana State
27-11, including a 19-5 advantage after halftime. The Crusaders also had 16 corner kick
opportunities, including eight in the second half and five more in overtime,
but could not score off of the set pieces.
Lahay made two first half
saves for the Sycamores while Nelson made five stops over the final 65
minutes. Mele Cabral (Boulder, Colo./Fairview
H.S.) made five saves for the Crusaders.
Valparaiso (4-8-2) will wrap up its three-match homestand on
Sunday afternoon, returning to Horizon League play to host Detroit.
Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. at Eastgate Field with all the action carried
live on WVUR (95.1-FM, Valparaiso).
Match Notes: Valparaiso
leads the all-time series 7-2-1 and is 5-0-1 over the last six matches … the
Crusaders are 4-0-1 all-time against the Sycamores at Eastgate Field … this is
Valpo’s first result of the season when its opponents scored first … with three
points on Friday, Kondratko is now tied for the team lead with eight …
Kondratko’s four assists on the season are tied for eighth on the single season
list … Kondratko is now tied for ninth on the all-time points list with 23 for
her career … Cabral now ranks sixth on the career list with 145 all-time saves
… Terrell’s goal was also her first collegiate point.