Freshman Luisa Desario (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett H.S.) scored her first two collegiate goals
and Rachel Hoaglin (Lakeville,
Minn./Academy of Holy Angels H.S.) added the
match-winner in the final with less than 14 minutes remaining in regulation as
Valparaiso defeated Ball State 3-2 on Thursday evening at the Varsity Soccer
Complex in West Lafayette, Ind. in the opening round of the Boilermaker Challenge
Cup hosted by Purdue.
“I’m proud of our team
because we executed what we wanted to do against a very high line from BallState,”
said head coach John Marovich.
Valpo struck first just under
20 minutes into the contest. Jackie Kondratko (Granger, Ind./Penn H.S.) sent a long lead pass ahead to Trisha Wladecki (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon
Lake H.S.). Wladecki sent a cross to
Desario who found the back of the net from 15 yards out to put the Crusaders on
top 1-0.
Both teams had seven shots in
the opening half, but it was Valpo that had the better chances, forcing
Cardinals’ goalkeeper Nicole Wood to make four saves in the opening 45 minutes
to keep the Brown and Gold’s lead at just one heading into intermission.
Ball State (0-3) came out quickly after the break, scoring twice
in the first eight minutes to take the lead.
Christine Concannon took a feed from Jackie Eft at the top of the
penalty area and just scored over the outstretched arms of Crusader netminder Mele Cabral (Boulder, Colo./Fairview
H.S.) just 3:45 into the half.
Three-and-a-half minutes
later, the Cardinals took the lead.
Megan Ridley took a pass from Eft in the middle of the penalty area to
tally her first goal of the season and put Ball State
up 2-1.
Desario’s second tally of the
match tied the contest at two with just over 20 minutes remaining. Kondratko sent a long ball from midfield to
Desario, who outran the defender and beat Wood one-on-one.
“I thought we had outstanding
performances from Desario and (Laura)
Romberg (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills H.S.),” Marovich
said. “Their efforts really hurt Ball State
– Luisa with her pace and Romberg with her distribution.”
Hoaglin added her second goal
of the year with 13:14 to play to give Valpo the victory. After Kondratko had won the end line, the
ball bounced around in the box, deflecting off of several players before
Hoaglin finished it off for her first career match-winner.
“I think our persistence
throughout the match is what allowed us to score three goals today and win the
match,” added Marovich. “I think it
shows the character of this group to not panic once we gave up the two goals.
We had the confidence to continue to do what we asked them to do and it paid
off in the end. The best part of today’s match is we found our character and
that character is something I'm extremely impressed with.”
Valpo outshot Ball State
12-4 in the second half to finish with a 19-11 advantage in the match, and
forced Wood to make seven total saves.
Cabral finished the night with two stops to earn the victory for the
Crusaders.
Valparaiso (2-3) will look for its third straight victory on
Saturday evening when the Crusaders face the host Boilermakers. Kickoff against #14 Purdue is set for 4:30
p.m. CDT with all the action carried live online through www.valpoathletics.com.
Match Notes: Valpo
leads the all-time series with Ball State 4-1 and has won two straight meetings
… this was Valpo’s first neutral site match since November 2, 2006 when the
Crusaders played Western Illinois in the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament
semifinals in Rochester, Mich. … five of Valpo’s six goals this season have
been scored by freshmen … Cabral earned an assist on Desario’s second goal, her
first collegiate assist … Kondratko now has three assists on the season and 20
career points.