Valparaiso outshot
Youngstown State 27-8 and held a 21-1 advantage in corner kick opportunities on
Sunday afternoon, but the two sides battled to a 1-1 double-overtime deadlock
at Eastgate Field in the 2010 finale for both schools.
The Crusaders had
control of the run of play for most of the opening half, outshooting the
Penguins 12-2 and earning nine corners.
Playing with the
wind at their back, Valpo fired eight of the shots on goal, only to have
Penguin keeper Nicole Kline turn aside seven in the opening 45 minutes.
Casey Pedersen (Northville, Mich./Mercy H.S.) finally put
the Crusaders on the scoreboard at the 16:52 mark though, dribbling to the end
line before firing a shot from the right side of the field to the far post,
just eluding Kline’s hands. For
Pedersen, it was her team-leading fourth goal of the season.
“I’m extremely happy
with Casey getting a goal today,” head coach John Marovich said. “She
battled back from injury which caused her to miss last year, worked hard to
come into camp in shape this season, and it all paid off for her.”
The Crusaders took
the 1-0 lead midway into the second half when Kelsey Kempton took a free kick
from the other side of midfield, and utilizing the wind hit a ball that bounced
high and over the head of Valpo netminder Stefanie
Matsas (Elmhurst, Ill./York H.S.) to tie the contest.
Valpo continued to
control play though, forcing Kline to make a total of eight saves on the
afternoon. The Crusaders had the only
five shots in the overtime, and won 12 corner kick opportunities in the final
65 minutes but just could not convert.
The Crusader defense
allowed just four shots on goal all day.
“The backline played
really strong again today,” Marovich said.
Matsas made three
saves for the Brown and Gold between the posts.
Brooke Henderson
(Westlake, Ohio/Westlake H.S.) had five shots for the Crusaders while Luisa
Desario (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett H.S.) and Tara Ellis (Portage, Ind./Portage
H.S.) had three each. Mikki Nuccio
(Ortonville, Mich./Brandon H.S.) had two shots as well for the Brown and Gold.
“Mikki gave us great
energy late in the season which was great to see,” Marovich added. “Tara also did a good job understanding her
role this year. She stayed positive and
it paid off for her as the season went along.”
Valparaiso finished
its season 5-8-5 overall and 1-5-1 in Horizon League play. Youngstown State concluded the year at
3-13-1, 1-6-1.
“We will work hard
in the offseason to get ready for next year,” Marovich concluded. “We’re
learning lessons right now as a team and they are not always fun. There are lots of positives happening with
the team though. We just had trouble
finding the back of the net.”
Match Notes: Senior Sarah
Melhorn (White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake H.S.), Valpo’s lone senior,
started the match despite a knee injury after being honored prior to the
contest … Matsas made her first career start in goal … Pedersen finished the
season with a team-leading 10 points … this was a school record fifth tie in a
single season for the Crusaders … Tracy
Roos (Centennial, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) played every second this season for
the Crusaders … Valpo leads the all-time series 8-0-2.