The Valparaiso University women’s soccer team went on the road for the first time this season Friday evening, but was unable to knock off Bowling Green, as the defending MAC champions earned a 2-0 victory.

How It Happened

• The Falcons took the lead in the match’s 10^th minute. Freshman goalkeeper Georgia Henkel (Houston, Texas/Stratford) stopped a penalty kick from BGSU’s Maureen Kennedy, but the save rebounded right back to Kennedy, who put away the rebound to give the Falcons a 1-0 advantage.
• Despite Bowling Green out-shooting Valpo 12-0 in the first, the Brown and Gold went into halftime trailing by just the one goal.
• Henkel made three stops in the first two minutes of the second half to keep it a one-goal game at the time.
• Bowling Green tallied an insurance goal in the 66^th minute, as Kennedy White found the back of the net for her second goal of the season, assisted by Alexis Miller.

Inside the Match

• Henkel made seven saves in goal for Valpo in her third start in as many games this year between the pipes.
• Bowling Green out-shot Valpo 24-3 on the evening and attempted 11 corner kicks to the Brown and Gold’s three.
• Making her first appearance of the season, sophomore Emily Engler (Northville, Mich./Mercy) earned a spot in the starting XI – the first start of her career.
• With Engler’s insertion into the lineup, eight of Valpo’s 11 starters were underclassmen on Friday – five freshmen and three sophomores.
• Redshirt freshman Kerry Slaga (Westmont, Ill./Westmont) and freshman Cierra Welch (Beecher, Ill./Beecher) both made their Crusader debuts off the bench Friday night.
• Valpo’s back four all played the entire 90 minutes Friday evening, including senior Ali Quillen (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek), who extended her consecutive minutes played streak to 2,415 consecutive minutes.

Thoughts From Coach Marovich

“We put together blocks of time where we are growing and finding ourselves. So far this year, our second 45 minutes have been improvements from our first 45 minutes, which is a good sign as it shows we are growing into matches. A young group is learning on the fly and making progress, and we’re looking forward to Sunday to continue our development.”

Next Up

Valpo (0-3-0) returns home to Brown Field Sunday afternoon to host Wright State at 1 p.m. The match can be seen live on The Valley on ESPN, airing on ESPN+.