Soccer Edges Eastern Michigan, 1-0
A busy weekend of home athletic events on the Valparaiso University campus opened on a winning note Thursday evening, as the Valpo soccer team earned a 1-0 win on Brown Field over Eastern Michigan thanks to a first-half penalty kick from senior Addy Joiner (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton).
How It Happened
– Both sides had spells of pressure in the first half, but little of it resulted in shot attempts either way.
– The breakthrough moment came in the 33rd minute, courtesy of Joiner. The senior applied pressure on the EMU center backs on a ball over the top, forcing an underhit header which she was able to gain possession of just outside the top of the box. Two touches later, Joiner was clattered into from behind and went down, earning the penalty kick.
– Joiner took the ball to the spot herself, stepped up and calmly drilled a right-footed strike down the center to give the Beacons the 1-0 edge.
– There was little in the rest of the half, with just one combined shot as Valpo took the 1-0 lead into halftime.
– The Beacons were able to see out the match in the second half, handling a ramped-up EMU attack which attempted eight shots and took four corner kicks over the final 45 minutes.
Inside the Match
– After last year’s MVC Tournament run which featured four 1-0 results, this was the first 1-0 final in the Beacons’ favor this season.
– Fresh off being named MVC Goalkeeper of the Week two days ago, freshman Hailey Wade (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) made her second career start in goal and earned her first collegiate clean sheet, making three saves to keep EMU off the board.
– Meanwhile, Joiner did what she’s done throughout her four-year career — simply finding the back of the net. The penalty goal was Joiner’s team-high third goal this season and the 21st of her career, moving her into a tie with Emily King for fourth-most in program history.
– It also was the senior’s eighth career match-winning goal, putting her alone in fifth place in program history.
– EMU, which entered the match sitting at 4-1-0 on the season, held an 11-8 edge in shots and put three on goal to Valpo’s two. The Eagles also attempted six of the match’s seven corner kicks.
Thoughts From Coach Marovich
“I’m really proud of our group tonight — it was a great growth night. A lot of things and details we had talked about focusing on happened tonight. It was a really solid performance, one with a lot of takeaways that we can build off of, and shows when we focus on our process, good things are going to happen.”
“We were a bit scattered in the first 10-15 minutes or so of the match, but really grew into the match after that point. We were really engaged in not letting players turn and challenging for 50/50 balls, and it led to us being able to pick passes, play into open space and get the ball out into the wide channels. What I really liked in the second half was it started similarly in terms of being scattered, but it didn’t last nearly as long — credit to our back line for quickly cleaning things up and playing smart.”
“On set pieces and goal kicks tonight, we were much better in handling head balls — going in with challenges, winning them, being able to kill off set pieces. It had been a focus of ours after hurting us the last few matches, and the way we handled them tonight is another positive we can take away.”
“I thought Ashlyn did a fantastic job putting in a shift as the 9 tonight — she was able to put Eastern Michigan under pressure, hold the ball and use her pace to create chances.”
Next Up
Valpo (4-3-0) goes for a strong conclusion to the nonconference schedule on Sunday afternoon when it plays at Northern Illinois at 1 p.m. NIU will have a free live video stream of the fixture.