Thursday, August 19, 2004

Freshman Brittany Derksen (Chugiak, Alaska/Chugiak H.S.) scored twice off of the bench helping lift Valparaiso to a 4-0 exhibition victory over Saint Joseph's (Ind.) on Thursday afternoon at Eastgate Field.

Derksen scored the final two goals for the Crusaders, the first less than a minute after registering an assist, as Valpo outshot the Pumas 24-3 for the match.

Kelly Faulkner (Plymouth, Minn./Maple Grove H.S.) opened the scoring in the 34th minute from 20 yards out after receiving a cross from Amanda Meyer (Somerset, Wis./Somerset H.S.). The Brown and Gold outshot St. Joe's 11-3 in the opening stanza but could just push the one tally past starting goalkeeper Brenda Johnson.

Derksen fed a pass through the middle that Lindsay Holley (Waldorf, Md./Westlake H.S.) took at the top of the box and put past back-up netminder Katie Awerkamp to make it 2-0 Valpo in the 66th minute. Less than a minute later, Derksen redirected an Emily King (Colona, Ill./United Township H.S.) restart to increase the lead to three. The freshman then concluded the scoring in the 73rd minute on a deflection from Amy Miller (Fort Wayne, Ind./Lakota West H.S., Ohio).

The Crusaders outshot the Pumas 13-0 in the second half. Johnson made five first half stops in goal for the visitors while Awerkamp made three more saves in the second half. Danielle Guerra (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton H.S.) and Erin Murray (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley H.S.) each played a half in goal for the Brown and Gold, with Guerra making the only stop.

Valpo earned seven corner kick opportunities in the match while allowing just three to St. Joseph's.

The Crusaders will conclude their exhibition portion of the schedule on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. match against DePauw in Greencastle, Ind.