SAU, ONU, SXU, VU All Advance In CCAC Women's Soccer Tournament
CHICAGO --- The first round of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Tournament saw a split decision with two of the top four seeds advancing in No. 1 St. Ambrose University and No. 3 Olivet Nazarene University. St. Ambrose scored a 2-1 victory over No. 8 Roosevelt University for its tenth straight win, while Olivet Nazarene claimed one of two shutouts on Friday with its 2-0 victory against No. 6 Judson University.
No. 5 Saint Xavier University delivered the other shutout with its 1-0 road win against No. 4 University of St. Francis, with No. 7 Viterbo University advancing in a shootout (3-1) after playing No. 2 Trinity Christian to a 1-1 draw.
That sets up Tuesday's matchups with St. Ambrose (13-4) hosting Saint Xavier (8-3-5) and Viterbo (7-5-6) traveling to Bourbonnais, Ill. to face Olivet Nazarene (10-3-4). The two winners advance to next Friday's championship match at the site of the highest remaining seed.
Recapping Friday:
St. Ambrose 2, Roosevelt 1
Taylor DeSplinter provided both the game-winning goal and an assist for the Fighting Bees, who stretched their winning streak to double figures. SAU's Kaitlyn Brunson opened the scoring with her tally just four minutes before the intermission. Roosevelt's Daisy Hernandez-Loya made things interesting when she cut the deficit in half in the 76th minute. It was one of only three shots on goal for the Lakers, who finished with seven total shots.
Viterbo 1, Trinity Christian 1 (Viterbo advances on penalty kicks, 3-1)
Viterbo took advantage of a Trinity Christian own goal to take a 1-0 lead 30 minutes into the contest before Samantha Wind forced the eventual tie in the 55th minute. The host Trolls outshot Viterbo 10-5 on goal, but the V-Hawks' Veerle Vriens was there to stop nine of the attempts as well as two more in the shootout. Viterbo made each of its first three shots in the shootout to advance.
Olivet Nazarene 2, Judson 0
Meegan Randall registered her conference-leading seventh shutout of the season with her five saves and the Tigers gained goals from Hannah Dela Vega (29th minute) and Sara Loichinger (45:18) to advance.
Saint Xavier 1, St. Francis 0
Alex Jonaitis' goal just 28 seconds into the second half for Saint Xavier held up as the only goal in a defensive struggle in Joliet enabling the Cougars to record the upset win. Natalie Dybas recorded six saves to notch her fifth clean sheet of the year.
Results and the rest of the tournament schedule are below:
Friday, November 3 - First Round
• Match #1: No. 1 St. Ambrose 2, No. 8 Roosevelt 1
• Match #2: No. 5 Saint Xavier 1, No. 4 St. Francis 0
• Match #3: No. 7 Viterbo 1, No. 2 Trinity Christian 1 (Viterbo advances on penalty kicks, 3-1)
• Match #4: No. 3 Olivet Nazarene 2, No. 6 Judson 0
Tuesday, November 7 - Semifinal Round
• Match #5: No. 5 Saint Xavier (8-3-5) at No. 1 St. Ambrose (13-4) --- 6 pm
• Match #6: No. 7 Viterbo (7-5-6) at No. 3 Olivet Nazarene (10-3-4) --- TBA
Friday, November 10 – Championship
• Match #7: Winner-Match #5 vs. Winner-Match #6 --- TBA (at site of highest remaining seed)