The USI women’s soccer hosted the Valparaiso University Beacons on Thursday night in the third match of a three match-homestand. They entered the game following their first win of the season, against Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. The team started the season on a rough start, registering no goals in the first three matches. However, their play looked better in the last three, despite two of them being losses. This upcoming match was crucial for the Screaming Eagles to boost their confidence as conference play gets closer.
The first half opened strongly for the Eagles, as they seemed to have an extra burst of energy from kick-off. The team was pressing Valparaiso from the start, which forced the Beacons to be surgical with their handling and passing of the ball. This is a trait of the Eagles. They’re always going to make the opposing team work hard to make even the simplest passes. This practice paid dividends early, as USI was able to dispossess Valparaiso and take advantage of the Beacons uneasiness. Eva Boer, redshirt sophomore, made a strong pass to Emerson Grafton, senior forward, who made a forward run into the opponent’s box. Grafton got a quick touch on the ball and put it past the goalkeeper, giving USI an early 1-0 lead at 07:44.
Despite scoring early, USI stayed aggressive, looking for attacking opportunities and getting three more shot attempts during the half, from Peyton Murphy, senior midfielder, Paulina Campos, freshman defender, and Grafton, whose shot was saved by the Beacon’s goalkeeper. However, all attempts were kept at bay. USI looked to continue their solid play going into the half, up 1-0.
To open the second half, USI got an immediate scoring opportunity. Off a throw-in on the left wing, USI’s Maggie Dugan, senior midfielder, placed a beautiful pass into the box, which Murphy made an aerial play on, giving Grafton a nice finesse shot on goal, scoring herself another goal, her second of the season. (A finesse shot is a shot that uses the inside of a foot to create a curving motion, as opposed to putting an emphasis on power.)
This goal, which occurred a mere 57 seconds into the second half, gave the team a major confidence boost. The squad kept the press up, forcing a couple of mistakes for Valparaiso, particularly in the backline, as a couple of misplaced passes gave USI the ball in some dangerous spots on the left wing and in the opponent’s box. It seemed inevitable that USI would score a third goal and officially lock the game down.
The Screaming Eagles started to get more attacking opportunities, particularly past the 60th minute, which forced the Beacons to commit more players into the box to combat potential aerial shot attempts off headers. However, to Valparaiso’s credit, they looked composed on corner set-pieces, keeping the ball away from the goal, despite some solid kicks from Brynn Quick, senior defender. Quick, as a right back, has a strong and accurate control of the ball during these set pieces, allowing USI to position stronger attacking players in the box. Typically, a midfielder or forward takes corner kicks because of their technical ability, but when a defender possesses that level of skill, that’s a luxury that a team can’t take for granted.
For the remainder of the second half, USI took control of the clock, but did not get complacent. In fact, Emma Schut, sophomore midfielder, picked up a yellow card in the 84th minute after she shoulder checked a Valparaiso player while attempting to get possession of the ball. Ten years ago, that’s probably a foul, but certainly not a bookable offense. I’m a fan of that type of physical play because when a team leads by two goals late in the game, oftentimes they get complacent and let opponents back into the game. Sure, you pick up a yellow card, but the message you send to the opponent is worth more than that.
The Screaming Eagles kept up their aggression to close out the game ahead 2-0. This result was their second win and a performance that the team should feel proud of. attempt to replicate in the future.
