Valparaiso (6-5-3, 3-2-1 Horizon)
Crusaders hit road for pair of key Horizon League fixtures
Wednesday, Oct. 21 – 5 p.m. – Milwaukee, Wis. – at Milwaukee (9-3-2, 6-0-0 Horizon)
Saturday, Oct. 24 – noon – Detroit, Mich. – at Detroit (6-7-2, 2-3-1 Horizon)
This Week in Crusader Soccer: The Valparaiso University women’s soccer team faces a pair of key Horizon League road matches this week as the league table starts to shake out. With just three matches remaining in league play for all teams, the Crusaders head to Milwaukee Wednesday evening to take on the first-place Panthers. Valpo then journeys over to Detroit for a Saturday afternoon showdown with the Titans.
Previously: Senior Rita Craven put the Valparaiso University women’s soccer team ahead just over a minute into the Crusaders’ Horizon League match against Green Bay at Brown Field Saturday night, and Craven would complete her brace with a wonderful strike midway through the first half as the Crusaders took down the Phoenix, 2-1.
Following the Crusaders: Both matches this week will be broadcast on ESPN3.com, while live stats will be available through ValpoAthletics.com. Over the course of the 2015 season, seven home matches will be broadcast live on ESPN3.com, while WVUR, Valpo’s student radio station, will also be broadcasting select matches.
Head Coach John Marovich: The 2014 Horizon League Coach of the Year, John Marovich holds a 72-50-27 record both overall and with Valpo in his eighth season at the helm of the Brown and Gold. Just the third head coach in program history, Marovich has the best winning percentage (.574) ever at Valpo, and ranks second in total victories, just seven wins shy of the top spot.
Series Notes: Milwaukee – The Crusaders are just 1-15-0 all-time against the Panthers, but that victory came last season at Brown Field as part of Valpo’s perfect run through the Horizon League slate. April Cronin’s 16th minute goal stood up as the match-winner, while the Crusaders surrendered just three shot attempts, none on goal.
Detroit – The Titans hold an 8-5-0 advantage all-time over the Crusaders, but it was Valpo which pulled out a pair of 1-0 wins last year. The first came at Brown Field on Oct. 25, a result which secured the Horizon League regular season crown for the Crusaders, and the second came in the league title game on Nov. 8.
Scouting the Opposition: Milwaukee – The Panthers sit atop the Horizon League standings entering Wednesday evening’s fixture at 6-0-0 in league play and 9-3-2 overall. Four different players have tallied at least 10 points for Milwaukee this year, led by 15 (7g, 1a) from Callie O’Donnell. Paige Lincicum has seen most of the action at goalkeeper and owns a 0.84 GAA.
Detroit – The Titans enter the week at 6-7-2 overall and 2-3-1 in Horizon League action, traveling to Youngstown State on Wednesday before Saturday’s contest against the Crusaders. Eight different players have scored multiple goals this year for Detroit, paced by four goals from Anna Mindling. Claudia Eustaquio has seen about two-thirds of the playing time in goal for the Titans and enters the week with a 1.26 GAA.
Crusaders Picked Atop Preseason Poll: The Crusaders were a unanimous choice to repeat atop the league table in 2015, according to preseason polling of the league’s head coaches. Valpo received all nine possible first-place votes, as head coaches were not allowed to rank their own team, to finish with 81 points. Oakland received the remaining first-place vote and was ranked second with 63 points, narrowly edging out Detroit with 60 points.
Looking Back at 2014: Last season’s Crusader squad was a record-setting side across the board, posting a 14-2-4 record, their 10th winning campaign in the last 11 years. The 14 wins marked a new program record, and the team set new marks for winning streak (12 matches) and unbeaten streak (18 matches) as well. The 2014 Valpo side became just the third squad in Horizon League history to post a perfect 8-0-0 record in regular season league play, as the Crusaders swept through the regular season and the tournament as well. Defensively, the squad set a new program best, surrendering just nine goals, while Sydney Galvez-Daley set new individual records for shutouts (12), wins (14) and GAA (0.43).
Down the Stretch in League Play: With just three league matches left for all the Horizon League teams, including this week, the Crusaders sit squarely in the middle of the pack. Valpo’s 10 points has the team sitting in fifth place, three points up on a Detroit-Wright State tie for sixth. The Crusaders still have a very outside shot of a top-two finish, but enter the week just one point out of fourth place, which would bring a quarterfinal home match in the Horizon League Championship.
A Brace for Craven: Senior Rita Craven accounted for all of the Crusaders’ scoring in their win over Green Bay last time out with her pair of first-half goals, registering her second career multi-goal game. Craven now owns 14 career goals and nine career assists, both of which are tied for ninth-most in Valpo history, while her 37 points rank eighth. In addition, Craven’s match-winner against the Phoenix was the ninth of her career, just one shy of the Crusaders’ all-time record.
Cronin Adds to Her Total: Junior April Cronin added two more goals to her ledger with goals against Northern Kentucky and Loyola, bringing her team-leading total to seven goals on the season. Cronin’s seven goals place her in a first-place tie for most goals in the Horizon League. The junior is now tied for eighth on Valpo’s single-season goal-scoring chart and has boosted her career total to 17 goals, sixth-best in Crusader history and just one goal shy of fourth place.
Striking Quickly: Over the last three contests, the Crusaders have connected for two of the five-fastest match-opening goals in program history. Last time out, Craven found the back of the net 64 seconds in the win over Green Bay, the third-fastest goal to open a match all-time at Valpo. Three games back against Northern Kentucky, Cronin struck 68 seconds into the match, which is now the fifth-fastest opening goal in Crusader history.
Academic Success: The Valparaiso women’s soccer team has been not only strong on the field, but also in the classroom in its history and has continued that tradition. Earlier this week, the Crusaders were awarded the NSCAA Team Academic Award, presented to programs with a cumulative team GPA of 3.0 or better for the 2014-15 academic year, for the 13th consecutive year. Last year, Valpo posted a team GPA of 3.52.
Craven Back For More: Senior midfielder Rita Craven returns for her final season already the most decorated player in program history. Craven was named as one of 28 players to the preseason MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, the first Crusader ever to earn a spot on the watch list for collegiate soccer’s most prestigious award. Last year, Craven became the first player in Valpo history to earn All-American honors, as she was named an NSCAA Third Team All-American. In addition, she was an NSCAA First Team Scholar All-American, as well as the Horizon League’s Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year.
More Honorees Return: Craven is far from the only player to receive honors for her work last season returning in 2015 for Valpo, however. All four of the Crusaders’ NSCAA All-Region honorees are back this year, as senior Jenny Fassbinder and juniors Cronin and Shelby Oelschlager were all Second Team All-Region choices. Both Fassbinder and Oelschlager started all 20 games on defense last year, while Cronin led the Crusaders with nine goals scored. Galvez-Daley is back as well, a Second Team All-League pick by the league and the league’s Defensive Player of the Year as chosen by College Sports Madness, while Vanesa Abad (6 goals, 1 assist) returns for her sophomore season after being named the Horizon League Freshman of the Year last year. In addition, Morgan Manzke – the 2013 Horizon League Newcomer of the Year – returns as well after using last season as an injury redshirt year.
