Valparaiso (5-6-3, 4-1-1 MVC)
Thursday, Oct. 13 - at Belmont (4-3-5, 2-2-2 MVC) - 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 16 - at Murray State (4-7-3, 3-1-2 MVC) - 1 p.m.
Next Up in Valpo Soccer: With just four matches left on the docket, the Valpo soccer team will head on the road for the final time in the regular season as the Beacons battle for a spot atop the MVC standings. Valpo begins the two-match stretch away from home Thursday at Belmont before moving on to play at Murray State on Sunday.
Previously: Valpo posted a pair of clean sheets last week, drawing 0-0 at Illinois State and winning 3-0 at home over Evansville. Abbey Hillman was named MVC Defensive Player of the Week for her work in the two shutouts.
Looking Ahead: Valpo closes out the regular season next week with a pair of matches at Brown Field, hosting Southern Illinois on Thursday night (Oct. 20) and Indiana State on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 23).
Following the Beacons: Both of this week’s matches will be broadcast on ESPN+. All nine of Valpo’s home matches are slated for broadcast on The Valley on ESPN (ESPN+ or ESPN3), while select road matches will be broadcast as well.
Head Coach John Marovich: In his 15th season at the helm of the Valpo program, John Marovich holds a 118-111-41 (.513) record both overall and at Valpo as a head coach. The 2014 Horizon League Coach of the Year, Marovich holds Valpo’s all-time records for both victories and winning percentage.
Series Notes: Belmont - While Thursday marks the first meeting as conference foes, Valpo is familiar with the Bruins and owns a 4-2-0 advantage in the all-time series. Belmont captured a 1-0 victory in the last matchup between the two sides on Sept. 9, 2018, however.
Murray State - Valpo is 4-1-0 all-time against the Racers, but all five matchups in the series came in a stretch between 2000 and 2007. Valpo earned a 2-0 victory in the last meeting, at Eastgate Field on Aug. 31, 2007.
Scouting the Opposition: Belmont - The Bruins enter Thursday’s match with a .500 record in MVC play so far, going 2-2-2 in conference and 4-3-5 overall. Belmont dropped a 2-0 decision to MVC leader Missouri State at home last time out. Anna Sweeney has scored a team-high three goals on the season, while Sarah Doyle has been strong in goal, posting a 0.68 GAA and an .881 save percentage.
Murray State - While the Racers enter the week at just 4-7-3 overall, they have picked up 11 points through their first six MVC matches (3-1-2) and will play at Southern Illinois on Thursday before Sunday’s meeting. MSU is coming off an impressive 7-3 win over Illinois State last time out, a victory which saw Sydney Etter net a hat trick and Saraya Young tally a goal and three assists.
Valpo Picked Atop Preseason Poll: The Beacons will be the hunted rather than the hunter this season, as Valpo was chosen atop the MVC preseason poll. Valpo gathered eight out of 11 potential first-place votes and totaled 116 out of 121 potential points, 22 points clear of second-placed Indiana State in the poll. Notably, the program has matched or surpassed its preseason projection in each of its first five seasons in the Valley.
Quartet of Preseason Honorees: Plenty of individual standouts have helped Valpo get to the point where it is the preseason Valley favorite, and four of them were honored with preseason All-MVC accolades. Seniors Kiley Dugan and Nicole Norfolk were joined by juniors Nikki Coryell and Kelsie James as preseason honorees. Valpo topped all MVC schools with four members of the preseason All-Conference squad.
Looking Back at Last Season: Valpo put together its best season since joining the Valley last fall, finishing the year with a 10-6-2 overall record and a 6-1-1 mark in Valley play to finish in second place in the standings. The Beacons went unbeaten in their first seven MVC fixtures, part of a nine-match unbeaten streak - the second-longest such streak in program history. Eight players earned postseason awards from the MVC, highlighted by the selection of Nikki Coryell as MVC Goalkeeper of the Year for a second straight season. Kelsie James joined Coryell on the All-MVC First Team, while James and Kiley Dugan were both Second Team All-Region selections.
What’s Back and What’s New: Valpo returns 20 letterwinners from last season’s MVC runner-up squad, including nine starters. Joining the fold this year are six newcomers - five freshmen and one transfer.
Posting Clean Sheets: Valpo has recorded five shutouts through six MVC matches after blanking both Illinois State and Evansville last week, already matching the program record for the most clean sheets within conference play in a single season. Last year’s side also registered five shutouts, while the 2011 and 2014 Valpo teams both blanked five Horizon League foes. The Beacons have now posted shutouts in 11 of their last 15 MVC regular season matches.
Cracking the Top 10: While the three points were already secured late in Sunday’s match against Evansville, junior goalkeeper Nikki Coryell had to come up with her toughest save of the week to keep the clean sheet, stopping a penalty kick in the 87th minute to keep the Purple Aces off the board. With her two shutouts last week, Coryell now has 19 career shutouts - tied for 10th-most in MVC history and one shy of a tie for second place on Valpo’s career chart. Her seven shutouts this year match her freshman year total, sixth-most in a single season in program history. Coryell has surrendered just one goal through Valpo’s first six MVC matches, posting a 0.17 GAA and a .952 save percentage in conference play to date.
Getting It Done On Both Ends: Senior right back Abbey Hillman was honored as the MVC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for her work in the pair of clean sheets last week. Hillman went the full 180 minutes over the two matches, part of a defensive unit which surrendered just nine combined shot attempts in the two shutouts. She also contributed offensively to the win over the Purple Aces with an insurance goal in the second half. With Hillman’s goal, all four regulars on the back line have found the back of the net this season.
Underclassmen Attacking: Valpo’s first two goals in the win over Evansville came from the Beacons’ two most prolific attackers this season. Freshman Molly O’Rear knocked home the eventual match-winning goal in the 26th minute, her second game-winner in MVC play this season. All six of O’Rear’s points have come in Valley matches. Nine minutes later, sophomore Addy Joiner connected on her team-best fourth goal of the season, three of which have come in Valley play.
Helping Out: Already tied for team-high honors in assists this season, Allie Anderson and Kelsie James teamed up to provide assists on Hillman’s goal against Evansville on Sunday, giving them four helpers apiece this year. For James, the assist was the 10th of her career, moving her into a tie for sixth place in program history.
Knocking Home Goals: This year’s Valpo side is the most prolific on the attack within Valley play since Valpo joined the MVC, having already found the back of the net on 10 occasions. The Beacons earned their third multi-goal win in MVC play on Sunday with a 3-0 victory over Evansville, matching their number of multi-goal conference wins from the last three seasons combined. It’s the first time since 2009 that Valpo has won at least three matches in conference action by two or more goals.
A Great Start: Valpo earned all nine points with three victories in its first three MVC fixtures, something which has been a good omen in the past. This year’s side is the seventh in program history to start conference play at least 3-0-0, as Valpo did so four times in the Mid-Continent Conference, once in the Horizon League and last season in the Valley. All six previous sides to start with at least three straight wins finished no worse than second in the final conference standings, including three conference regular season titles. Notably, however, none of those six seasons contained more than eight conference matches - this season, Valpo will play 10 conference matches.
One Side of the Scoreboard: If there’s been one constant over the last month-plus of Valpo soccer, it’s that only one side of the scoreboard has had to be used. Each of the Beacons’ last nine matches have resulted in a clean sheet - four in favor of Valpo, four in favor of the opposition and one scoreless draw. You have to go back to the 2-1 final against Chicago State Sept. 2 to find the last time both Valpo and its opponent scored in the same match.
A Big Win: The floodgates opened for the Beacons Sept. 22 against UIC, as Nicole Norfolk, Addy Joiner, Abby White and Sam Gountounas all found the back of the net in a 4-0 victory over the Flames. The win marked the first time Valpo had scored four or more goals in a conference match since a 5-1 win over Indiana State on Oct. 25, 2018 - also the last time it had won a conference fixture by four goals. It was the first time the program won a conference game by four goals in a game which finished 11 on 11 since October 2000.
A Historic Honor: Nikki Coryell was tabbed MVC Goalkeeper of the Week Sept. 26 for her pair of shutouts against UIC and Drake, her second weekly award of the season from the conference office and the sixth of her career. With six weekly awards, Coryell is now tied with Lori Moore (six-time Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Week) as the most prolific weekly award winner in program history.
Winning Weekly Awards: The Beacons have claimed six weekly honors from the MVC office to date this season. In addition to the awards for Hillman and Coryell, Molly O’Rear (Sept. 20, Freshman), Addy Joiner (Sept. 26, Offensive) and Nicole Norfolk (Sept. 26, Defensive) have been recognized by the conference this year.
Looking For Conference Success: With MVC play under way, Valpo is looking to build on its success within conference play over the last two seasons. Since the start of the spring 2021 campaign, the Beacons are 13-4-5 within regular season MVC matches - a mark which improves to 13-2-5 with the removal of the two Loyola matches.
National Recognition: Senior Kiley Dugan and junior Kelsie James both earned preseason recognition on a national level, as both were named preseason Players to Watch by United Soccer Coaches. The preseason Players to Watch lists were released for the first time this season by the Division I All-America Committees to promote college soccer leading up to the official start date for the regular season. The lists included United Soccer Coaches All-Americans and first or second team All-Region players from 2021 who are scheduled to return for the 2022 season.
Always in the XI: Four players have started all 12 matches for Valpo this season: Allie Anderson, Kiley Dugan, Natalie Graf and Nicole Norfolk. In their fourth season in the Valpo uniform, Dugan and Norfolk have both started all 64 matches since stepping on campus.
