Soccer Falls on Senior Day to Southern Illinois
The Valpo soccer program celebrated the nine members of its senior class on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Brown Field with its annual Senior Day ceremony prior to the match, but when the whistle went, the result didn’t fall the Beacons’ way, as visiting Southern Illinois came away 2-0 victors.
How It Happened
– Goalkeeper Kate Sheridan (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) made six stops on shots on target over the match’s first 26 minutes to keep the match scoreless.
– SIU broke through in the 27th minute, as a looping header from Lucy Horn dipped inside the top-left corner of the goal.
– The score remained 1-0 at intermission, as Sheridan made three more saves following the opening goal to keep the Beacons within a goal.
– Junior Molly O’Rear (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) had a good rip at an equalizer in the 51st minute that flew just over the crossbar.
– Less than two minutes later, the Salukis doubled their lead off a set piece, as Sierra O’Grady got a flick on a ball into the box and found the net to make it 2-0, where the score remained for the duration of the match.
Inside the Match
– Prior to the match, Valpo honored its senior class — grad transfer Ella Schad (Prairie du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie [Coastal Carolina]) and four-year seniors Lauren Cook (Littleton, Colo./D’Evelyn), Cara Crompton (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville), Peyton Evans (Parker, Colo./Legend), Dana Fish (Sheboygan, Wis./Sheboygan North), Sam Gountounas (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew), Addy Joiner (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton), Emma Morrison (Canton, Mich./Plymouth-Canton) and Abby White (Commerce Township, Mich./Walled Lake Central).
– All seven healthy seniors — excepting Fish and Evans — were in Valpo’s starting eleven on Sunday afternoon. For Crompton and Cook, it was the first start of their respective collegiate careers.
– Morrison played the full 90 minutes, the first time she has gone the distance in a match since Oct. 23, 2022.
– SIU ended the match with a 23-8 shot advantage and put 14 of its efforts on goal to Valpo’s four.
– Sheridan ended the match with a season-best 12 saves, the highest total by a Valpo goalkeeper since Kezia Gesell stopped 12 shots in a win at Illinois State Oct. 8, 2018.
– Saluki goalkeeper Fabiana Solano made four saves to secure the shutout.
Thoughts From Coach Marovich
“Right now, it’s tough because we’re on a run of results that haven’t gone our way. I think this is one of those things where you have to keep after it until you find and make your own luck. We’re not going to back down; we’re going to keep doing what we do and get back to work.”
“I truly believe we have the right people in the room — this is a group which is going to fight and keep battling. We’re going to work this week to continue to get better and get ready for Evansville next Sunday. I believe we’re not far away; we have a lot of good things going on, just right now we’re not getting the benefit of the work we’re putting in.”
“When you go through a stretch like this, it’s natural to start to press, and when that happens things can go sideways for you. We have to trust that we don’t have to play pressed or stressed, we just have to play composed.”
Next Up
Valpo (4-9-0, 0-5-0 MVC) has a bye in the Thursday match slot this week and will return to action next Sunday afternoon, right back on Brown Field to take on Evansville at 1 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
-Va