Playing its first home match at Brown Field this year, the Valpo soccer team made it one to remember Tuesday afternoon, as goals within a few minutes of either side of halftime stood up for a 2-0 victory in MVC play over Indiana State. The win was commemorated by a shower from the water jug as the final horn sounded, as head coach John Marovich led the Brown and Gold to their 100^th victory in his tenure on the sidelines leading the program.

How It Happened

• With neither side getting much in the way of chances in the first half, it looked like the game would head into intermission scoreless.
• But that all changed in the 41^st On a windy day at Brown Field, freshman Kelsie James (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) took an in-swinging corner kick that got caught up in a gust which took it closer to goal. ISU goalkeeper Maddie Alexander was forced to jump and push the ball away from the goal line, but her push ended up at the feet of senior Lauren Torhorst (Waterford, Wis./Waterford Union) just a couple yards away from goal. Torhorst easily finished it up with her right foot to put Valpo on top.
• Coming out after the halftime break, it took Valpo less than four minutes to double its lead thanks to the work of freshman Lindsey Dusatko (Plainfield, Ill./North). Dusatko ran onto a quick throw-in and beat her first defender to the end line. Cutting into the box, Dusatko then dummied another defender to get a one-on-one look at goal from a sharp angle, and the rookie converted from the edge of the six-yard box, using her right foot for a driven finish high inside the far post.
• Indiana State would take eight second-half shots, but many of those were efforts from distance that were off the mark or easily handled by Valpo goalkeeper Nikki Coryell (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley).
• The Sycamores’ biggest threat came in the 79^th minute following a foul just outside the area on the right side. The free kick was taken into the center of the box, where ISU’s Sasha Thompson gained possession and took a shot that got past Coryell. But freshman Cassidy Eckstein (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) was manning the goal line as well for just that reason, and the rookie cleared it off the line. Follow-up attempts from the Sycamores were blocked and went wide as Valpo kept the clean sheet.

Inside the Match

• The winningest coach in program history, Marovich now owns a career record of 100-96-33 in his 13^th season at the helm of the Valpo program.
• Prior to becoming head coach, Marovich was a pair of 52 wins over six seasons as an assistant/associate head coach as well.
• Valpo improved to 1-0-1 with Tuesday’s win over the Sycamores, who entered the contest a perfect 2-0-0 in MVC play to date. For Valpo, it marks the first time it has earned a pair of results in its first two conference matches since joining the MVC.
• Valpo now sits at 2-1-2 overall this year, the first time since 2014 the program has dropped just one match in the season’s first five fixtures.
• After ranking second in the MVC last year with five goals, including a pair of match-winners, Torhorst picked right up where she left off in Tuesday’s win with the match-winning tally. The senior has scored eight career goals, six of which have come in MVC play.
• James’ assist on Torhorst’s goal was the first of her career as she now owns a team-best five points on the season.
• Dusatko’s goal was the first of her collegiate career.
• With a little help from Eckstein, Coryell kept the clean sheet in Tuesday’s win, her third shutout in the first five matches of the season. Valpo last posted three shutouts in the first five matches of the season in 2014.
• Valpo has won its last three matches on Brown Field dating back to last year, all in shutout fashion as the defense currently has a 280-minute scoreless streak at the program’s home facility.

Thoughts From Coach Marovich

“I’d like to thank every single player who has ever played at Valpo, both during my time here and before my time. It’s an honor and privilege to represent all of them as coach of this program. Everybody who has given their time, talent, energy and effort to be a part of the 100 wins is truly special to me. I’m moved by it all, from the ice bath to the postgame video and people who took the time to send messages. I’m humbled by the moment and want everyone to know how appreciative I am of what they’ve done to help this program become what it is today.”

“I felt like today, we got a little bit stretched in the opening 15 minutes. It’s not necessarily what I think is great for us, but I thought we did a good job after that of starting to compact our defense, which allowed us to have better possession and purpose.”

“The group’s performance today was a really good way to come out and protect our home field. They battled, they showed a lot of grit and had a lot of really positive moments. Players came off the bench to combine for our first goal, and it was great to see Lindsey get her first collegiate goal to make it 2-0.”

“Some of our older players really set a great example during training over the past few days for our younger players on how to be dangerous on the attack and taking on defenders on the flank, and that really made an impact on Lindsey and paid off with how she scored her goal. It’s just another example of how this group is helping each other grow, and that's what I’m going to take away from the game.”

“We got the three points and kept the clean sheet in a conference game — we’ll enjoy this tonight and then start to get to work for Loyola on Saturday. Every game is a new opportunity to test us and to challenge us, and this group looks forward to each of those chances.”

Next Up

Valpo (2-1-2, 1-0-1 MVC) returns to Brown Field on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. to host MVC preseason favorite Loyola. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN3.