Junior Rita Craven (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) matched a program record with her fourth match-winning goal of the season, securing three points for Valparaiso with her goal in the 74^th minute as the Crusaders won at UIC Wednesday evening, 2-1.

With the victory, Valpo extended its program-record unbeaten streak to 11 consecutive matches, the last five of which have been Crusader victories. In addition, Valpo is now a perfect 3-0-0 in Horizon League action and is tied at the top of the table with nine points, having a game in hand with fellow three-win squad Detroit.

Craven continued her trend of scoring match-winners on Wednesday with a stellar individual effort, striking a shot from 12 yards out that made its way into the upper-right corner of the net with less than 17 minutes remaining on the clock to break the tie. For Craven, it was her fourth match-winner of the year, tying a mark which had been accomplished by five Crusaders previously, most recently Jackie Kondratko in 2009. It also is the seventh match-winning tally of Craven's career out of eight goals, tying her for second in Valpo's career record book.

While Craven has made a habit of scoring game-winning goals, it was another Crusader on a hot streak who gave Valpo the initial advantage on Wednesday. Sophomore April Cronin (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) dribbled around a trio of defenders to get into the box and unleashed a shot that beat UIC goalkeeper Kelly Fritz in the 26^th minute to give the Crusaders a 1-0 lead. Cronin now has points in five consecutive games and has scored goals in four of those five games.

"I thought April and Rita both really had great individual performances tonight," said Crusader head coach John Marovich. "April was very creative and was really dangerous in 1v1 situations, finishing one nicely to give us a lead. Rita followed suit with her goal, as she went straight up the middle and dribbled at a couple defenders to finish."

The Flames, in their first season of competition, would even the match in the 32^nd minute on a free kick from Mackeznie Fuller, just the sixth goal the Crusaders have surrendered this season. But after going back on level terms, Valpo continued to control the run of play and pepper UIC with attack after attack, even after both sides were cut down to ten players apiece in the 54^th minute after matching red cards, eventually resulting in Craven's match-winner.

Valpo ended the night with a 19-9 advantage in shots over UIC (2-11-0, 0-3-0 Horizon), but the Crusaders barraged Fritz with efforts, putting 18 of their 19 shots on goal. Fritz made a Horizon League season-high 16 saves to prevent the Crusaders from running up their side of the ledger, while on the visitor's side, Sydney Galvez-Daley (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick [Creighton]) had to make just two saves in earning the victory.

"I just liked our team's resiliency tonight, to get through the match and come out with three points," said Marovich. "This game should teach us a lot with regards to all aspects of the game - tactically, physically and emotionally. We have a lot of things from tonight which we can focus on, learn from and improve on, while we can also continue to do the positive things we did tonight. It's exciting to get three more points on the road in league play, as points are always at a premium, but now we have to focus on getting ready for another big game on Saturday."

Valparaiso (7-1-4, 3-0-0 Horizon) returns home Saturday evening to cap Homecoming weekend as it deals with Youngstown State, which enters the fixture third in the league standings. Kickoff from Brown Field on Saturday night is slated for 7 p.m. Live video via the Horizon League Network and live audio via WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso) will be available through ValpoAthletics.com, as well as live stats.