VU Women’s Soccer Opens Season with Win at Chicago State
The Valpo soccer team opened the door on the 2024-25 Valpo Athletics season Sunday afternoon in Chicago, rallying from an early one-goal deficit to defeat host Chicago State by a 3-1 final.
How It Happened
– The Cougars struck just over two minutes into the match, as Delaney Kenney found the back of the net to make it 1-0 Chicago State.
– The Beacons kept their composure and were rewarded late in the seventh minute with a penalty kick drawn by senior Dana Fish (Sheboygan, Wis./Sheboygan North) on a nice dribble into the box. Classmate Addy Joiner (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton) stepped to the spot and calmly delivered into the lower-left corner to equalize.
– The match went into halftime level at 1-1, despite Valpo holding an 8-1 advantage in shots in the opening 45 minutes.
– Coming out of intermission, it took the Beacons less than a minute to claim the lead. It was freshman Landyn Wessels (Maple Hill, N.C./Jacksonville) with pressure on the Cougars’ back line, forcing retreat and eventually winning a battle for possession at the top of the box before sliding a pass across to an unmarked Sam Gountounas (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew). Gountounas’ strike from 15 yards beat CSU goalkeeper Jay Arballo into the lower-right corner.
– Freshman Ashley Trippeer (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) put the game away with a good individual effort with a minute to play. Trippeer stepped up from right back, coming up with a takeaway 35 yards from goal before taking two touches and ripping a shot off the far post and into the back of the net.
Inside the Match
– Sunday marked Valpo’s first road win in a season opener since 2018.
– Valpo improved to 5-1-0 in program history against Chicago State and owns wins in both of its road matchups with the Cougars.
– Joiner’s penalty was the 19th goal of her career, giving her possession alone of sixth place in program history. With one more goal, Joiner will move into a tie for fifth with Kendall Brown.
– Gountounas found the back of the net for the fourth time in her career, making it a match-winning tally for the first time.
– Trippeer’s goal and Wessels’ assist came in the collegiate debut for both freshmen.
– Trippeer was one of four Valpo debutants in the starting XI on Sunday, including goalkeeper Kate Sheridan (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids). Sheridan appeared for the first time in her third year on campus and made a pair of saves to earn the win, highlighted by a leaping effort in the 58th minute to push a long-distance CSU shot over the bar.
– Midfielder Carly Stewart (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay) and center back Maya Tyburowski (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) both started in their debuts as well Sunday.
– Wessels was joined by five other players making their Valpo debut off the bench: transfer Ella Schad (Prairie du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie [Coastal Carolina]), redshirt freshman Emma Paraskos (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) and freshmen Ashlyn Cohen (Cooper City, Fla./Cooper City), Kaleigh Shafer (Shelby Township, Mich./Eisenhower) and Alexis Suptela (Palatine, Ill./Fremd).
– In all, 10 of the 20 players who saw the pitch for Valpo on Sunday were playing their first match as Beacons.
– Valpo finished with a 16-4 advantage in shots over CSU and put six efforts on goal to the Cougars’ three. The Beacons also held a 7-5 edge in corner kicks.
Thoughts From Coach Marovich
“Today was a great day as we start a new journey. We were able to let our players get their feet under them, whether it was their first regular season match in college or whether they’re taking on new roles for us this season. To be able to do that and walk away with a 3-1 win, we’ll take that.”
“We gave away the early goal, maybe some early-season jitters with our new group, but what was great is the way we responded to the adversity properly. We jumped on the game, got a PK a few minutes later to tie the score and then continued to be the aggressors.”
“We continued to figure out who we are going to be as a group on the field today. As the match went on, we started doing things more typical to our style of play and grew into the game. We got a lot of good chances in the second half and were able to put two away — Landyn with some great pressure to create the goal for Sam, and Ashley with the big hit towards the end of the game.”
Next Up
Valpo (1-0-0) goes for two straight wins to start the season on Thursday afternoon when it heads to Charleston, Ill. to face Eastern Illinois at 2 p.m.