Valparaiso (5-6-0, 1-1-0 Horizon)
Crusaders face Wisconsin foes in Horizon League play
Wednesday, Sept. 28 - 7:30 p.m. - Brown Field - Milwaukee (6-3-2, 2-0-0 Horizon)
Saturday, Oct. 1 - 7 p.m. – Green Bay, Wis. – at Green Bay (0-8-1, 0-2-0 Horizon)
This Week in Crusader Soccer: The Valparaiso University women's soccer team continues Horizon League play with matchups against the league's two Wisconsin entries this week. The Crusaders host Milwaukee at Brown Field on Wednesday night before trekking up to Green Bay for a Saturday evening matchup.
Previously: A late equalizer gave Valpo life late in its match against Detroit Mercy on Saturday night, but a penalty kick just 15 seconds into extra time ended the contest in the Titans' favor, 2-1. Grace Rogers connected on a header in the 88th minute off of a corner kick to force the match past the 90-minute mark.
Looking Ahead: Following Wednesday's match, the Crusaders will not return to Brown Field until Oct. 15, as they will remain on the road next Saturday at Wright State.
Following the Crusaders: Wednesday's match against Milwaukee 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 for both matches this week, will be available via ValpoAthletics.com.
Head Coach John Marovich: The 2014 Horizon League Coach of the Year, John Marovich holds a 78-58-27 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.
Series Notes: Milwaukee - Valpo is just 1-16-0 all-time against the Panthers, but each of the last four meetings have been one-goal decisions, including a 1-0 win for Valpo in the last matchup at Brown Field (Oct. 22, 2014). Last season, the Panthers scored in the second minute - a goal which stood up for the entirety of a 1-0 final in Milwaukee.
Green Bay - While the all-time series between the Crusaders and Phoenix is even at 8-8-3, there is a clear delineation in the series. Prior to 2002, Green Bay earned wins in all eight meetings, but since Valpo joined the Horizon League in 2007, the Crusaders own the 8-0-3 advantage in 11 matchups. Valpo has won five of the last six in the series, including a 2-1 win at Brown Field last season on Oct. 17.
Scouting the Opposition: Milwaukee - The Panthers come to Valpo on Wednesday with a 6-3-2 record and have won both of their Horizon League matches so far, including most recently a 1-0 win over Northern Kentucky. Callie O'Donnell has scored a team-high six goals on the year, while Mallory Geurts has posted a 0.80 GAA and an .837 save percentage in goal.
Green Bay - The Phoenix is still in search of its first win of the year, and have fallen by four goals to both Northern Kentucky and Wright State to open Horizon League play. Carli Vogel and Maggie Fuller have found the back of the net for Green Bay this year, as the Phoenix has been out-scored 22-2 on the season.
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 Crusaders' victory over Morehead State on Sept. 18, 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 (.561), owns the same number of wins despite coaching 29 fewer matches than Anthony.
Playing Extra Time: Three of Valpo's last four matches have gone beyond 90 minutes, while the Crusaders have seen four total matches this year go into extra time. Each of the last three years, Valpo has played overtime in at least six matches. The difference so far this year has been the final results in extra time, as all four such matches so far have seen a golden goal scored - a far cry from the program's history, as entering the season, 43 out of 83 (51.8%) of the team's matches which went into extra time ended in draws.
Second All-Time: Senior April Cronin continued her strong final season with five points over the Crusaders' two victories two weekends ago. 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 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. Just over 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.
Rogers Heads One Home: It had been nearly two full years since junior Grace Rogers scored the lone goal of her career - Oct. 11, 2014 against Youngstown State - before she stepped up in a big way last time out, heading in a bouncing ball off a corner kick to equalize against Detroit Mercy in the 88th minute. For Rogers, it was her first goal of the season to go along with her team-best three assists.
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 eight appearances with a GAA of 1.07 and an .805 save percentage. In five of seven 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.
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.
