Valparaiso (5-5-0, 0-0-0 Horizon)

Crusaders continue homestand, look for three more points in league play

Saturday, Sept. 24 - 7 p.m. – Brown Field – Detroit Mercy (4-5-1, 0-0-1 Horizon)

This Week in Crusader Soccer: The Valparaiso University women's soccer team continues a three-match homestand at Brown Field Saturday night, hosting Detroit Mercy in Horizon League play as part of Homecoming weekend festivities. With the Crusaders' next victory, head coach John Marovich would become the winningest coach in program history.

Previously: Valpo enters this Saturday's match coming off back-to-back victories last week. The Crusaders earned all three points in their league opener at Cleveland State with a 1-0 victory over the Vikings, and then returned home and earned a 2-1 win in extra time in their non-league finale against Morehead State.

Looking Ahead: The Crusaders will face a pair of Horizon League matches next week, hosting Milwaukee in mid-week action Wednesday night before traveling to Green Bay for a Saturday evening match.

Following the Crusaders: This weekend's match against Detroit Mercy will be broadcast live on ESPN3, WatchESPN and the ESPN app, and will also be broadcast over the airwaves of WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso). Links for both the video and audio broadcasts, as well as live stats, will be available via ValpoAthletics.com.

Head Coach John Marovich: The 2014 Horizon League Coach of the Year, John Marovich holds a 78-57-27 record both overall and with Valpo in his ninth season at the helm of the Brown and Gold. Just the third head coach in program history, Marovich will become the winningest coach in program history with the Crusaders' next victory, as he matched Stephen Anthony's mark of 78 wins with the victory over Morehead State last time out.

Series Notes: The Titans owns a 9-5-0 advantage in the all-time series over the Crusaders, but Valpo has taken two of the last three matchups. Last season, Detroit Mercy earned a 1-0 extra time win over Valpo in Detroit.

Scouting the Opposition: Detroit Mercy enters this weekend with a 4-5-1 record overall and is coming off a 2-0 win over Madonna in mid-week action. The Titans battled Wright State to a scoreless draw in their Horizon League opener last weekend. Anna Mindling has scored six of Detroit Mercy's 11 goals on the season, while Marina Manzo has seen most of the action in goal and owns a 1.41 GAA.

Crusaders Picked Fourth in Preseason Poll: Valpo has been chosen to finish in a tie for fourth place in the Horizon League preseason poll, as voted on by the league’s head coaches. The Crusaders totaled 57 points in the preseason polling, in which coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team, to tie Wright State for fourth place. Oakland edged out Milwaukee by one point to top the preseason poll.

Looking Back at 2015: Last year's Crusader squad posted a 7-8-3 record, including a 4-4-1 mark in Horizon League play. April Cronin and graduated senior Rita Craven both repeated as First Team All-League honorees and were NSCAA Third Team All-Region choices, while Kelsey Jahn represented the Crusaders on the league's All-Freshman Team.

Marovich Ties Wins Record: With the pair of wins last week, head coach John Marovich now owns 78 victories at the helm of the Crusader program, tied with Stephen Anthony for most wins by a Valpo women's soccer head coach. Marovich, who holds the program record for winning percentage (.565), has accomplished the feat in 30 fewer matches than Anthony.

Second All-Time: Senior April Cronin continued her strong final season last week, tallying five points over the Crusaders' two victories. Cronin scored the lone goal in Valpo's 1-0 win over Cleveland State, and then against Morehead State, opened the scoring and assisted on the match-winning goal. Cronin now sits in second place alone in program history in both career goals (23) and points (54), and is tied for second in match-winning goals with nine, just one off the school record. Halfway through the year, Cronin's marks of six goals and 14 points have her right on pace to challenge the program's single-season records of 11 goals and 27 points as well.

Griffith Scores Again: Sophomore Cory Griffith made the most of her team-high sixth shot attempt of the game last time out against Morehead State, tucking away a Cronin cross in the second period of extra time for the match-winner. Griffith now has three goals this season, already matching her output from her freshman year, and eight points total, second-most on the team.

Barrett Strong in Goal: Since being called upon to step in between the pipes in goal, redshirt freshman Tess Barrett has been steady for the Crusaders. Barrett owns a 4-3-0 record in her seven appearances with a GAA of 1.08 and an .800 save percentage. In four of six starts, Barrett has surrendered one goal or fewer, and she picked up her second clean sheet of the season in the Horizon League opener at Cleveland State.

Seniors Start On Senior Day: The Crusaders honored a group of seven seniors prior to the Morehead State game as part of Senior Day ceremonies, keeping with their tradition of holding Senior Day in conjunction with the final non-league home match of the year. All seven graduating seniors who were honored earned spots in the starting XI against the Eagles, which meant that Danielle DeSciscio, Kelsie Bolerjack and Krista Carlson all made their first career starts in the win.

Weekly League Honors: Ava Porlier earned Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week honors for her two-goal performance at Western Michigan in just the fourth weekend of her play in her career. Earlier this year, Cronin picked up Offensive PoW honors as well, following a seven-point weekend - including her hat trick at Loyola. Entering this year, Valpo had not earned a Horizon League Offensive PoW award since the league split offense and defense in 2012.

Experience Back in 2016: Among the 18 letterwinners who return for the Crusaders in 2016 are seven of last season's 11 most regular starters. The team features plenty of new blood as well, however, as nine freshmen are in their first year at Valparaiso.