Women's Soccer

Calvin Women’s Soccer Tops PSU Behrend 1-0 to Advance in NCAA III Tournament

-- Story provided by Calvin University Athletics --

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin University women's soccer team advanced to the second round of the NCAA III Tournament with a 1-0 win over Penn State University Behrend on Friday at Calvin Soccer Stadium.
 
PSB (13-4-2-) looked strong early and attacked the Calvin defense for a pair of chances, but Calvin keeper Kalex Dodge (Jackson, Mich./Leslie) made one stop and another attempt went over the goal to keep the match 0-0 in the early going.
 
Calvin (15-4-0) would get its goal in the 30th minute as Mikaela Waroway (Ann Arbor, Mich./Father Richard Gabriel) scored off a pass into the box from Liz Williams (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) and the Knights took that lead into halftime.
 
The Lions outshot the Knights 9-6 overall and 5-2 in shots on goal, but Dodge came through with five saves and Waroway's goal stood as the lone score for either team.
 
Playing with a one-goal lead, Calvin pushed for more throughout the second half and had a number of strong chances. After recording two shots on goal in the first half, the Knights had six in the second half to go with five corner kicks.
 
While the attack could not add a second goal, the Calvin midfield and defense stood tall throughout the second half, holding the Lions to seven shots at goal and only one shot on goal to keep the one-goal lead and secure the win.
 
Dodge finished the match with six saves on the way to her fourth shutout of the season.
 
Waroway's goal was her team-leading tenth of the season while Williams recorded her team-best ninth assist.
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "Congrats to Penn State Behrend on a really great season," Calvin head coach Emily Ottenhoff said. "We knew they would be a tough team – they have a lot of good, crafty players who gave us fits throughout the match. I thought we came out a little slow and on our heals and I thought they put a lot of pressure on us. As we kind of got going, we found a goal and felt maybe a momentum switch a little bit and got more confident. Our group maybe came out a little passive and we encouraged them at halftime to play more assertively and more bold and I thought we did that in the second half."
 
NEXT UP: Calvin women's soccer will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, November 15) when it hosts Illinois Tech in the second round of the NCAA III Tournament at 3:00 PM. The Scarlet Hawks won their opening round match against Grove City College 1-0 on Friday.