Early Outburst Lifts Soccer to Win at Western Illinois
The Valpo soccer team answered an early Western Illinois goal emphatically Thursday evening in Macomb, Ill., scoring four times within the match’s first 20 minutes on its way to a 5-1 win over the Leathernecks.
How It Happened
– WIU struck for the match’s opening goal 1:19 into the match, as Abigail Schilling found the back of the net.
– It took the Beacons less than six minutes to respond, as Kiara Desiderio (St. John, Ind./Hanover Central) played a combination with Martha Goddard (London, England/Alleyns School). Goddard turned and fired from the right side, 15 yards out, and sent a hard shot inside the back post to level the match.
– 98 seconds later, it was Valpo in front, as O’Rear found Desiderio at the top of the box. The freshman beat one player and fired home to make it 2-1 Beacons.
– Desiderio made it a brace in the 11th minute, and O’Rear followed by converting a penalty in the 20th minute to push the lead to 4-1.
– Tatum Coleman (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) closed out the scoring early in the second half, taking a pass from O’Rear outside the 18-yard box on the left side and putting it away into the upper 90 on the back side.
– Kate Sheridan (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) kept the Leathernecks from pulling a goal back by saving a penalty in the 79th minute.
Inside the Match
– By scoring four goals by the 19:51 mark of the match, Valpo set a new program standard for the earliest into a match it has hit the back of the net four times.
– The Beacons’ first three goals came in the opening 10:40, the quickest Valpo has put three on the board since opening up with three goals in 6:02 at Green Bay Oct. 31, 2014.
– The five-goal output was the program’s highest goal total since winning by an identical 5-1 scoreline against Chicago State Aug. 31, 2023.
– It was the program’s largest road win since beating Youngstown State 6-0 Sept. 26, 2015.
– Desiderio recorded her second brace of the season and now sits at a team-best five goals on the year. Her assist was the first of her collegiate career.
– O’Rear had three goal involvements as well, assisting on the Beacons’ second and fifth goals around her successful PK in the 20th minute. The senior has six goals and seven assists for her career.
– Goddard’s goal was her second of her rookie season, while the junior Coleman found the back of the net for the first time in her collegiate career.
– Valpo finished the evening with a 22-7 advantage in shots, including an 11-5 edge in shots on goal. The Beacons also earned all 11 of the match’s corner kicks.
– Sheridan made four saves to keep the Leathernecks at bay, highlighted by her penalty save.
– The Beacons played 24 players in all Thursday evening, as only one field player played all 90 minutes and only two others saw even 60 minutes of action.
– Hannah Gabriel (Northville, Mich./Northville) made her season debut in the second half and played 21 minutes.
Thoughts From Coach Marovich
“I felt like in the first half we did a nice job moving the ball, had really good spacing and made the game easy on ourselves. We found some very good pockets of space and played good combinations.”
“We have to be careful in some spaces, as to how we gave up the early goal, but I was really pleased how we responded so quickly. This group is very committed to how we want to play, and the first half was a great example of that.”
“In the second half, we weren’t quite as sharp at every turn, maybe a bit rushed in the attacking third. But we still had a good handle of the match and moved pretty well.”
“At the end of the day, it was a really good team performance — everyone played today, we played well, we played hard and created a lot of different opportunities in a lot of different ways.”
Next Up
Valpo (3-4-1) returns to action at Brown Field on Sunday for Senior Day at 1 p.m. Prior to the match, O’Rear, Sheridan, Gabriel and Kennedy Hill (Austin, Texas/St. Michael’s Catholic Academy) will be honored.