Valparaiso (2-2-0, 0-0-0 MVC)
Thursday, Sept. 5 - #15 Xavier (5-0-1) - 7 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 8 - at Wright State (1-3-0) - noon CT
Next Up in Valpo Soccer: The Valpo soccer team welcomes a nationally-ranked foe to Brown Field on Thursday evening as nonconference play continues, taking on #15 Xavier. The Beacons then return to the road to play at Wright State Sunday afternoon.
Previously: Valpo had just one match last week, falling 5-0 at Ohio.
Looking Ahead: Nonconference play comes to an end next week for the Beacons, as they host Eastern Michigan on Thursday, Sept. 12 before playing at Northern Illinois Sunday, Sept. 15.
Following the Beacons: Thursday’s match versus Xavier will have a live ESPN+ broadcast, while live stats will be available for both matches. All home matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+ as part of The Valley on ESPN, while some road fixtures will also have live video available.
Head Coach John Marovich: Entering his 17th season at the helm of the Valpo program, John Marovich holds a 134-120-48 (.523) record both overall and at Valpo as a head coach. The 2014 Horizon League Coach of the Year and the head of the 2022 MVC Coaching Staff of the Year, Marovich holds Valpo’s all-time records for both victories and winning percentage.
Series Notes: Xavier - Thursday is the first meeting between the two programs. Valpo’s last match against a Big East opponent came in the spring 2021 season, a 2-1 loss to DePaul.
Wright State - The Raiders hold an 11-2-5 advantage in the all-time series over Valpo, a series which includes a stretch from 2007 through 2016 when the two sides shared league affiliation in the Horizon League. The programs have matched up twice since in nonconference action, most recently a 2-2 draw on Brown Field Sept. 1, 2019.
Scouting the Opposition: Xavier - The nationally-ranked Musketeers come into Thursday night’s match with a 5-0-1 record on the year, most recently drawing 2-2 at #4 Michigan State on Sunday. The Beacons and Musketeers share one common opponent, Milwaukee, which Xavier earned a 4-2 win against. Three different players share team-high scoring honors with three goals apiece, including Emma Flick, who has also tallied three assists. Maria Galley has played all but eight minutes in goal and owns a 0.85 GAA.
Wright State - The Raiders enter the week with a 1-3-0 record and will host Morehead State on Thursday night before Sunday afternoon’s matchup. Ruby Dunlevy and Ainsley Terada scored for WSU last time out in a 2-1 win over Southern Indiana.
Valpo Picked Fifth in Preseason Poll: The Beacons were chosen to finish in fifth place in preseason polling of the MVC head coaches. Valpo tallied 83 points in the poll, coming in just behind UIC (87) and UNI (85). Missouri State was picked to win the conference and garnered seven first-place votes, while Drake was chosen second and picked up three first-place nods. Notably, the program has matched or surpassed its preseason projection in six of its first seven seasons in the Valley, and the only season it didn’t was 2023, when Valpo eventually claimed the MVC Tournament title.
Preseason Honoree: Senior forward Addy Joiner was recognized by the Valley as a preseason First Team All-MVC honoree when the preseason poll was released. Joiner has twice earned postseason recognition, as she was a First Team All-MVC selection in 2022 and picked up Third Team All-MVC accolades in 2023. Joiner netted eight goals last season, tying her for third in the MVC and moving into a tie for ninth on the program’s single-season goals chart. She enters her final campaign tied for sixth in program history with 18 career goals, tied for seventh with 40 points and tied for eighth with six match-winning goals.
Looking Back at Last Season: Valpo claimed its first MVC Tournament championship since joining the Valley in dramatic fashion in 2023, winning four consecutive tournament matches by 1-0 finals to earn the crown and return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014, where it battled #9 Notre Dame to a scoreless first half before eventually falling 2-0. The Beacons finished the season 11-6-6 overall and went 3-3-4 in MVC regular season play, finishing sixth in the regular season standings. Nicole Norfolk was a First Team All-MVC selection, highlighting six Beacons who earned postseason recognition from the Valley, and also picked up Second Team All-Region honors.
Who’s Back: In a rarity in the transfer portal era we live in, all 20 players from the 2023 team who did not graduate are back and on the 2024 roster. That includes five regular starters and 13 of the team’s 27 goals from last season.
Who’s Gone: But the Beacons did graduate a decorated class of nine players who closed their time at Valpo with championships in back-to-back seasons, a group which accounted for 54.2% of the team minutes played in 2023. The four-year seniors who graduated put together maybe the best four-year stretch in program history, posting a 19-7-10 record in MVC play and advancing to four consecutive MVC Tournament semifinals. That group of seniors combined for nine All-MVC selections, 12 MVC weekly awards, 28 goals, 27 assists and 28 shutouts over their four years.
Who’s New: Chomping at the bit to be the next group of Beacons to help keep Valpo among the MVC’s best are 10 newcomers to the roster in 2024. That group includes nine true freshmen and grad transfer Ella Schad, who is utilizing her COVID year of eligibility after playing four seasons at Coastal Carolina.
Facing Ranked Opposition: Thursday night will feature a nationally-ranked opponent under the lights at Brown Field, believed to be the first time in program history Valpo women’s soccer has hosted a top-25 opponent. The Beacons last faced a nationally-ranked foe when they took on #9 Notre Dame in last season’s NCAA Tournament, while their last regular season match against a top-25 opponent also came against a ninth-ranked Fighting Irish side to open the 2015 campaign.
A Familiar Face: Xavier’s visit to Brown Field on Thursday means the return of a familiar face to the sidelines. Musketeer assistant coach Noah Smith spent the last two seasons as a graduate assistant for Valpo, working with the Beacons’ goalkeepers.
Closing Out a Tough Stretch: When the Beacons’ schedule was released in early July, eyes immediately were drawn to this stretch of three matches which concludes on Thursday - a stretch which ranks among the toughest run of matches in head coach John Marovich’s tenure. It started with a matchup against Milwaukee, which finished last season with an RPI of 36, has won 22 of the last 24 Horizon League regular season titles and has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 17 times. It continued with a road fixture against Ohio, which won the MAC Tournament last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. And it ends this week against Xavier, which went 14-4-4 last season, earned a share of the Big East regular season title, received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and closed the year with an RPI of 27.
An Old Foe: When Valpo takes on Wright State Sunday afternoon, it will be the third time this year the program has taken on an opponent it previously shared conference affiliation with, as WSU and Valpo were both Horizon League members from 2007-16. Valpo and Eastern Illinois share three seasons (1996-98) as affiliate members of the MVC, while Milwaukee was also in the Horizon League for the duration of Valpo’s time in the league. Valpo and Chicago State also used to share conference affiliation in the Mid-Continent Conference, but CSU did not sponsor women’s soccer at that time.
Brown Field Drama: Down one goal with 20 minutes to play in your home opener against a Milwaukee side which finished last season 36th nationally in RPI? No problem for Valpo, as Sam Gountounas scored in the 72nd minute and Addy Joiner found the back of the net in the 88th minute to give the Beacons the 2-1 victory. It marked the first time Valpo won a match in regulation when trailing after 70 minutes since a 2-1 victory over Murray State Aug. 26, 2005.
Rallying for the Win: Conceding first has not been a death knell for Valpo’s chances of earning a win in early-season action. The Beacons have surrendered the first goal in each of their two wins, coming from down 1-0 to beat Chicago State 3-1 and Milwaukee 2-1. This comes on the heels of a 2023 campaign during which Valpo was winless (0-5-3) when conceding first.
Who Else?: Of course it was senior forward Addy Joiner with the match-winner against Milwaukee, the 20th goal of her Valpo career - just the sixth player in program history to reach that mark. Joiner is tied with Kendall Brown for fifth place in program history in career goals, just one shy of Emily King in fourth. It was her seventh career match-winning goal as well, also tied for fifth in program history. Joiner, who also tallied the assist on Sam Gountounas’ goal, is tied for sixth with Luisa Desario with 45 career points as well.
Shooting With Accuracy: Joiner’s two goals this year have come on eight shot attempts, a ratio slightly better than her career line of 20 goals on 92 shots. The 92 shots is by far the fewest in the career of any of Valpo’s top-10 career goal scorers, as the next fewest shot attempts was Rachel Hoaglin’s 117. In addition, Joiner’s shooting percentage of 21.7% is easily the best of any of Valpo’s most prolific goal scorers - second-best is Cory Griffith’s 16.6% clip.
Player of the Week: For her multiple goal involvements in the Milwaukee win, Joiner was named the MVC Player of the Week. It was the fifth weekly honor of her career - she earned Freshman of the Week once as a rookie, was Player of the Week twice as a sophomore and then once as a junior. Joiner joins Lori Moore as the only players in program history to earn weekly recognition from the conference office at least once in each of their four seasons.
Sam Scores Again: Joiner wasn’t the first Valpo player this season to score multiple goals, as classmate Sam Gountounas beat her to the punch with her 72nd minute equalizer against Milwaukee. Gountounas previously found the back of the net with the match-winning goal in the opener against Chicago State. After scoring three goals in her first three seasons, Gountounas has two in the first four games of her senior campaign.
Productive Debuts: Two Valpo rookies had goal involvements in their collegiate debut in the season opener at Chicago State. Landyn Wessels picked up the assist on Sam Gountounas’ goal early in the second half, while Ashley Trippeer closed out the scoring with the late insurance goal.
Mixing and Matching: Head coach John Marovich has plenty of options at his disposal this year and has not hesitated with utilizing many of them. The season opener at Chicago State saw right back Ashley Trippeer as the only Beacon field player to play the full 90 minutes - the first time in program history in a season opener that only one field player has gone the full 90. At Eastern Illinois, the entire back line played the full match, as Trippeer was joined by Abby White, Anna Cup and Maya Tyburowski, but then against Milwaukee, it was only White who played the full 90 minutes. Last time out at Ohio, Cup was the only Beacon to play the full 90.
Joiner Leads the Line: Senior forward Addy Joiner enters her final year looking for one more standout campaign to cap her prolific career in the Brown and Gold. Joiner earned First Team All-MVC recognition as a sophomore as she led the team and ranked second in the Valley with seven goals scored. Last year, she was a Third Team All-MVC selection, pacing the Beacons and ranking third in the MVC with eight goals while also chipping in a pair of assists. Joiner entered the 2024 campaign tied for sixth in program history with 18 career goals.
From Newbie to Veteran: It’s not often you’d call a sophomore a veteran presence, but that is exactly what sophomore center back Anna Cup brings to the Beacons’ back line. As a rookie last season, Cup slotted in immediately to the team’s defense, starting in each of her 22 appearances and missing only one match due to injury. Of her 22 starts, she went the distance in 21 of them, while Valpo surrendered one goal or fewer in 18 of her 22 starts. For her defensive efforts, Cup earned a spot on the MVC All-Freshman Team.
Scooter Shines: Senior left back Abby White has been a steady sight running up and down the left side since she stepped on campus in 2021. White, who has accumulated over 4,500 minutes of playing time through her first three seasons, was an MVC All-Freshman Team choice in 2021 and earned Third Team All-MVC honors in 2022. Last season, White came up big in one of the biggest moments, as she scored the match-winning goal in extra time of the Beacons’ MVC Tournament semifinal victory over Missouri State, bending in a corner kick for an Olimpico in the 97th minute. White played all 380 minutes of the tournament run, part of a back line which posted four consecutive clean sheets, and was named to the MVC All-Tournament Team.
Big Shoes to Fill: While the Valpo program graduated a decorated class of seniors following last season, perhaps none was more decorated than Nikki Coryell, the three-time MVC Goalkeeper of the Year and four-time All-MVC honoree. With Coryell’s departure, the Beacons entered this season with a grand total of 0 collegiate regular season minutes at goalkeeper on their roster. A trio of netminders will look to step in and try to take their place in the legacy of strong Valpo goalkeepers: redshirt sophomore Kate Sheridan, redshirt freshman Helen Stegner and true freshman Hailey Wade.
The English Influence: Last season marked the first time in program history Valpo’s roster featured a player from England, as Daisy Boardman arrived on campus from Warrington, Cheshire. This season, the number of players from across the pond doubles, as Kate Jeffery joins the Beacons from Southampton, Hampshire. In addition, Louis Owens - a native of Basingstoke, Hampshire - will work with the goalkeepers as the coaching staff’s graduate assistant this year.
That Tourney Run: It was a magical 11 days in late October and early November last fall, as Valpo embarked on its dramatic run to claiming the MVC Tournament championship. The Beacons won all four of their tournament fixtures by 1-0 finals - the first time in program history Valpo has won four matches in a single postseason, and the first time in program history the team has strung together 1-0 wins in four straight matches. The final three of those four victories came over the top three teams in the regular season standings, including the title match win over host and regular season champion Drake. In three of those four matches, it took the Beacons until after halftime to find their lone goal, including one match that went to extra time scoreless. As the sixth seed in the MVC Tournament, Valpo became the lowest seed ever to win the Valley title and was the first team outside the top-two to claim the championship since 2007.
Conference Success: Valpo has enjoyed consistent success within conference play over the last few seasons. Since the start of the spring 2021 campaign, the Beacons are 19-7-10 within regular season MVC matches - a mark which improves to 19-5-10 with the removal of two matches versus departed conference foe Loyola.
