Valparaiso (2-3, 0-0 Horizon)
Match #6: Friday, Sept. 9, 6 p.m. CDT
at IUPUI (1-3-1, 0-0 Summit)
Kuntz Stadium - Indianapolis, Ind.
Match #7: Sunday, Sept. 11, 1 p.m. CDT
at Eastern Illinois (0-4-1, 0-0 OVC)
Lakeside Field - Charleston, Ill.
This Week in Crusader Soccer: Valparaiso wraps up its four-match road trip this weekend with a pair of contests. The Crusaders head south to Indianapolis on Friday evening for a date against former Mid-Continent Conference foe IUPUI before traveling on to Charleston, Ill. on Sunday for a clash with the Panthers of Eastern Illinois.
On the Air: Neither match this weekend is being broadcast online or over the airwaves. Live stats will be available through valpoathletics.com for both matches though.
Head Coach John Marovich: John Marovich holds a 28-26-9 record both overall and with Valpo in his fourth season at the helm of the Brown and Gold. Just the third head coach in program history, Marovich has the best winning percentage (.516) ever at Valpo, and ranks second in total victories.
Series Notes: Valparaiso holds a 9-3-1 series advantage over IUPUI dating back to 1998 when the two schools were both members of the Mid-Continent Conference. The Crusaders have won six straight matches against the Jaguars, including a 1-0 triumph at Eastgate Field last season. Valpo is 4-1-1 against IUPUI in Indianapolis. Eastern Illinois holds a 7-2-1 all-time series advantage over Valpo going back to 1995. The Crusaders have won the last two matches against the Panthers though, including a 1-0 victory at Brown Field one year ago. Valpo has never won in Charleston, going 0-4 at Eastern Illinois over the years.
Wrapping Up Last Week’s Action: Janine Lytle scored the lone goal of the match on Friday as the Crusaders defeated Coastal Carolina 1-0 in Lynchburg, Va. in the opening game of the Liberty Invitational. In Sunday’s tournament finale, the host Flames scored the first three goals of the match before Casey Pedersen put Valpo on the scoreboard as the Crusaders fell 3-1 to Liberty. Catherine Terrell drew a pair of assists on the weekend for Valpo.
Scouting IUPUI: The Jaguars battled Eastern Illinois to a 2-2 double overtime draw on Friday in their only match last weekend. Taylor Heidorn leads IUPUI with five points, including two goals, while Megan Hock has also found the back of the net twice this season. Ashley Doreski and Chelsi McHenry both have goals as well for IUPUI. Kristin Haseley has posted a 1.54 goals against average between the posts for the Jaguars while registering a .786 save percentage. The Jaguars are wrapping up a four-match homestand against Valpo.
Scouting Eastern Illinois: The Panthers went 0-1-1 last weekend following a 2-2 draw at IUPUI on Friday and a 3-2 loss to Butler in Eastern Illinois’ home opener on Sunday. Kristin Germann has scored four of the Panthers’ five goals on the year and assisted on the other for nine points while Laura Hoppensteadt has the other tally. Jessica Taldone has played a majority of the minutes in goal, sporting a 1.74 goals against average and a .774 save percentage. Eastern Illinois hosts Western Illinois on Friday before entertaining the Crusaders.
Pedersen Scores Again: Casey Pedersen scored her second goal of the season in Sunday’s loss at Liberty. The fifth-year senior is the only Crusader with more than one tally this season after leading Valpo with four goals one year ago.
Lending a Helping Foot: Catherine Terrell picked up her first two assists of the season over the weekend, both off of set pieces. She started the match-winning goal against Coastal Carolina with a free kick and then added an assist on a corner kick against Liberty. The junior now has three career helpers.
In This Corner: Valpo registered a season-high 12 corner kick opportunities on Sunday against Liberty. The Crusaders rank third in the Horizon League with 6.20 corner chances per match this season.
Moving Onto the All-Time Scoring Charts: Luisa Desario has moved into a tie for 10th place all-time with Jessie White (2006-2009) with 26 career points at Valpo. Desario has 10 goals and six assists, and is just one goal shy of the top-10 all-time in a Crusader uniform. Rachel Hoaglin now has 24 career points, including nine goals, and is on the verge of moving on the career charts as well.
Record Book Watch: Luisa Desario ranks seventh in school history with 120 career shot attempts, needing two more to match Jackie Kondratko’s (2006-2009) sixth place total of 122. Desario is also tied for ninth all-time with four match-winning goals, one shy of Lisa Springs (1998-2001) for eighth on the all-time list. Kristen Manski is tied for fourth all-time with five career shutouts in goal, two shy of Amy Cavanaugh (1996-1999) for third place.
Team Captains: Valpo has co-captains for the 2011 season. Senior Tracy Roos has been named a team captain for the third straight season and will be joined in that role by classmate Brooke Henderson.
Crusaders Picked Seventh in Preseason Poll: The head coaches selected Valparaiso to finish seventh in the Horizon League this season according to the preseason poll. The Crusaders finished tied for seventh in the regular season a year ago with a 5-8-5 overall record and a 1-5-2 mark in league play.
This and That: Kristen Manski and Rachel DeFrank shared time in goal on Friday as part of Valpo’s first shutout of the season ... Erika Schoemann made her collegiate debut on Sunday against Liberty ... Katie Gratzianna made her first two appearances of the season this past weekend ... IUPUI will be a part of the Crusader Classic the Crusaders are hosting, but will not face the Jaguars in that event. -:
