Women’s soccer improves entering GLVC play
The University of Indianapolis women’s soccer team took the field on Sept. 15 in a home matchup with the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers that resulted in a tie following two overtimes.
Heading into the match against the No. 18 ranked team in Division II at the time, Head Women’s Soccer Coach Kiley Cirillo said the team expected the Rangers to play with physicality.
“That’s their ‘M.O.’ We knew it coming in,” Cirillo said.
During the match, the Hounds struggled to keep the ball on the offensive end, as the Rangers shot the ball a total of 25 times compared to the Greyhounds’ 8.
“We’ve got to keep the ball longer and connect more passes,” Cirillo said.
The Greyhounds were able to hold strong, however, as junior goalkeeper Megan Fee had a productive outing with 17 saves in goal, keeping the highly-ranked Rangers from scoring.
Cirillo attributed the team’s performance to more experience, pride, and the fact that it was the Greyhounds’ second Great Lakes Valley Conference match of the season.
Following the match, senior midfielder Kaitlyn Braunig said that she had high hopes for the rest of the season and that the team is trying to capture a conference championship and a possible national title bid.
“The goal is to not have our last game in October,” Braunig said.
The Greyhounds also were in action against the Lewis University Flyers the preceding Friday, losing 5-2.
The Flyers gained an early lead in the match, leading 2-0 in the first 23 minutes. The Hounds answered soon after with a goal from junior midfielder Stacey Klene, which put the team within one point of tying the score at the 29 minute mark. Klene went on to tie the match with another goal in the second half, 2-2.
In the absence of senior midfielder Shelby Spinelli this season, Klene has stepped up for the Hounds, leading the team in goals and points, as well as coming in second in assists thus far in the season.
“We expect all of our girls, whether they play five minutes or longer, to be able to step in and perform,” Cirillo said.
Following Klene’s back-to-back goals, the Flyers went on a three-goal scoring run that put the game out of reach for the Hounds and secured the Flyers’ victory.
The Flyers were led in their victory by sophomore forward Jessica Chavez, who finished with a hat trick in the match.
Fee had a low statistical performance in the loss, with just four saves in goal during the match.
Referring to how the Flyers were able to score more than the Rangers, Cirillo said that Friday’s game against Lewis had more “well-placed shots,” while Sunday’s had more directly shot at Fee and from a further striking distance.
The Greyhounds will play at home on Sept. 27 against the Truman State University Bulldogs at 5 p.m.
