By: The women’s soccer team celebrated Senior Day with a 2-0 win over Grinnell in its final home match of 2015.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College women's soccer team made their final home match of the 2015 season one to remember. The Lady Blues scored two goals within the first 20 minutes and let their defense carry the load from there in securing a 2-0 win over Grinnell on Saturday afternoon. Illinois College runs its record to 5-9-2 (2-5-1 Midwest Conference) and drops the Pioneers to 4-11-0 (2-7-0 MWC).
In the final time competing at England Stadium for
Jessica Martinez,
Bianca Savarese,
Cat Solberg and
Julie Weier, each had their time to shine. Martinez attempted the first shot of the match with five minutes elapsed, though Katy Oldach was there for the save to keep things scoreless. After a corner kick from
Ashley Sholmire in the 15th minute,
Kaylen Sims got the first touch of the ball and it caromed around the six-yard area before coming back to Sims who slotted home past Oldach to make it 1-0.
Just over two minutes later, Illinois College doubled its advantage as the Lady Blues quickly countered a Grinnell attack and
Elizabeth Wagnon slipped a through ball in for Sholmire to run onto and strike past Oldach for a 2-0 lead in the 17th minute. The goal was Sholmire's ninth of the season, eclipsing the eight she scored last season as a freshman.
Grinnell had its fair share of possession after that, but the Pioneers couldn't turn possession into quality shots. At the half, the Pioneers had six shots but none of them were on target. Meanwhile, IC's five shots were all on frame.
Solberg started out the second half with two saves in quick succession to keep Grinnell off the board. Following a corner kick from Sholmire in the 50th minute, it was Weier's turn to have a go on the offensive end after coming up from the back. Given a little bit of space, Weier was able to step into a shot which was directed at the upper-right corner of the goal. Only a sprawling punch save from Oldach kept the defender from notching her first goal of the season.
As the match wore on, Grinnell used a litany of substitutions to try to keep the tempo high as it searched for a goal, but the defense of Illinois College was too disciplined to let anything past. What chances the Pioneers were able to create were met by Solberg, who made six saves to keep a clean sheet for the first time since a 0-0 draw with Greenville College.
With the win, the four seniors comprising the Class of 2016 for the Lady Blues became the winningest Senior class in the history of IC women's soccer.
Illinois College will be on the road for its final two matches of the season. The Lady Blues travel to take on Monmouth College on Oct. 28 beginning at 3:30 p.m.
