VALPARAISO, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer came up short in its road match at Valparaiso University on Sunday afternoon, 2-0, after the Beacons scored twice in the second half.
USI Women's Soccer (1-6-2), amid a four-game road stretch, was coming off a road win at Cleveland State University on Thursday. USI and Valparaiso (4-4-1) battled to nearly an even match statistically on Sunday, with USI recording 12 shots and six on goal compared to 11 shots and five on goal for Valparaiso. However, a long-range goal and a corner-kick goal by the Beacons in the second half proved to be the difference on the scoreboard.
Individually, senior forward
Eva Boer paced the Screaming Eagles with four shots and two on goal. Graduate senior
Payton Seymour tallied three shots with one on goal, and sophomore defender
Tierney Mullady added a pair of shots and one on goal in a full 90 minutes played. In goal, sophomore goalkeeper
Merrick Schwalbach made three saves, including one on a penalty kick.
Following a couple of early first-half shots by Valparaiso, USI created a pair of its own chances in the first dozen minutes. Seymour placed a shot on goal, while freshman
Liza Anderson had a shot that went across the goal frame and missed just outside the post. Later in the first half, Schwalbach, who had two saves earlier in the half, made a diving save on a penalty kick in the 38
th minute to keep the match tied 0-0. The contest remained scoreless going into halftime.
The Screaming Eagles applied a couple of pressure looks early in the second half. However, Valparaiso jumped onto the scoreboard first in the 60
th minute when Martha Goddard curled a shot from nearly 25 yards out into the top-right corner of the goal to give the Beacons a 1-0 advantage. Valpo later doubled its lead to 2-0 in the 76
th minute on a header off a corner kick. USI had a few late shots, including two free kicks by Mullady, but the Valpo goalkeeper covered them to seal the game.
The Screaming Eagles conclude the four-match road swing on Thursday, September 17, with a trip to DePaul University. Thursday's kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. and will air on Marquee Sports Network.
