CINCINNATI, Ohio - With their semi-final win over Hanover on Wednesday the Mount St. Joseph women's soccer team has earned the right to host the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship match on Saturday. The Lions will welcome the #2 seed, the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers to Cincinnati and Schueler Field with an HCAC title and the leagues automatic bid into the NCAA tournament on the line.
In that win against Hanover, the Lions outshot the Panthers in the 16-10, although the Panthers were able to get more on frame 7-5. The only shot that mattered though came in the 56th minute as
Mary Anhofer buried a left footed goal off an assist from
Rachel Ginn.
Defensively the Lions were outstanding in the match, the backline of
Alondra Sotelo,
Alena Schirripa,
McKinzie Dotson and
Vivian Willis were stellar in front of
Jordan Schneider. That group combined for their fourth shutout in the last five games. Schneider had seven saves in the match, including a couple of beautiful diving stops!
Rose-Hulman earned their spot in this round with a 1-0 win of their own at home over Transylvania. That match was similar to the Lions game, in that it went to halftime tied 0-0. Rose was able to find the go-ahead and eventual game-winner in the 46th minute. Alex Adams drilled a shot that bounced off the crossbar and Lauren Marquart was able to head the rebound into the back of the net.
These two squads squared off just two weeks ago in Terre Haute, with the Lions edging the Fightin' Engineers 1-0. The only goal in the game came from
Ella Pittman who was assisted on her 26th minute goal by
Mckenzie Schneeman. As has been the case for most of the season the Lions defense was dominant, allowing Rose-Hulman only a pair of shots on frame in the game.
Jordan Schneider was able to save both of those shots to preserve the win. The Mount outshot Rose 9-4 in the game but were only able to manage a 3-2 advantage in shots on goal.
The match is scheduled to get underway from Schueler Field at 7:00 PM, live video coverage will be provided by Indiana SRN, a valuable partner of the HCAC.
