Late Goal Keeps Soccer From Win Sunday
The Valpo soccer team looked poised to claim all three points from its MVC matchup against Evansville at Brown Field Sunday afternoon, but the Purple Aces found the back of the net with less than two minutes to play to make the final result a 3-3 draw.
How It Happened
– Valpo opened the scoring in the 16th minute on Sunday. Freshman Kaleigh Shafer (Shelby Township, Mich./Eisenhower) gained control of a loose ball about 35 yards from goal and found senior Abby White (Commerce Township, Mich./Walled Lake Central) coming down the left. White cut inside and hit a strike from 20 yards out with her right foot, burying it into the lower-left corner of the goal.
– The Beacons’ lead was short-lived, however, as Evansville’s Taylor Johnson scored in the 18th minute.
– The 1-1 scoreline proved to be short-lived as well, though. Less than three minutes after the Purple Aces’ equalizer, Valpo’s press created a turnover from the Evansville back line. Freshman Ashlyn Cohen (Cooper City, Fla./Cooper City) picked it up and shot from about 20 yards out, and her right-footed strike got through Evansville goalkeeper Myia Danek and into the corner of the net to make it 2-1 Valpo.
– The game went into halftime with the Beacons on top, 2-1, but the Purple Aces evened things up less than four minutes into the second half when Johnson found the back of the net.
– Valpo took the lead for the third time on Sunday in the 57th minute. With possession on the left side in the attacking third, freshman Landyn Wessels (Maple Hill, N.C./Jacksonville) hit a beautiful cross-field ball to senior Sam Gountounas (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) on the right flank. After a few touches, Gountounas took a sharp-angle shot from 10 yards out and rifled it into the top of the net to make it 3-2 Valpo.
– The Beacons maintained the one-goal edge for over 30 minutes, keeping the Purple Aces at bay. But Evansville’s Hailey Autenrieb got loose on a run down the left and scored with 1:39 remaining to close out the scoring.
Inside the Match
– The draw was Valpo’s first of the season, coming in its 14th match.
– It was just the second 3-3 draw in program history. The only such previous result came on Oct. 9, 2009 against Indiana State.
– The end result fit with how the series between the two in-state foes has gone recently. Since Valpo joined the MVC, it has met Evansville on 10 occasions, with the series in that stretch even at 3-3-4.
– White’s goal was her first of the season and the fourth of her career, while Shafer’s assist on it was the first of her collegiate career.
– Cohen found the back of the net for the second time this year, both of which have come in the last three matches.
– Gountounas tallied her third goal of the season and the sixth of her career, while Wessels’ assist was her second of the year.
– Evansville ended the afternoon with an 18-15 advantage in shots, but the Beacons put eight on goal to the Purple Aces’ five.
Thoughts From Coach Marovich
“I felt like we played some real proper football today. We were patient in a lot of moments, we found spaces which needed to be found, we did a lot of really positive things when we had the ball and we were rewarded by scoring three goals. That’s fantastic progress, and came out of some really good ideas from a great week of training.”
“The hard part is that we then didn’t get the full three points for that kind of work. The game is telling us that we have to be better in critical moments. We’re trying to do too much, we’re not having the same kind of patience, and at the end of the day, those moments have come back to hurt us in terms of getting points.”
“The way we tried to play today is great progress to me. We’re not happy with where the conference season is and the results we’ve had, but I love the development of these players and that’s what we’re going to keep our focus on — continuing to develop repeatable actions and stay true to them.”
Next Up
Valpo (4-9-1, 0-5-1 MVC) faces a two-match road trip next week, starting Thursday night at Belmont. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m.