Senior April Cronin (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) scored her fifth goal of the season midway through the first half, and the Valparaiso University women’s soccer team made that goal stand up, blanking Cleveland State in Cleveland, Ohio on Friday evening, 1-0, to open Horizon League play.

How It Happened

• Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Tess Barrett (Tinley Park, Ill./Providence Catholic) made a pair of saves in a one-minute span in the 13th and 14th minutes to keep the game scoreless – the only saves she would have to make on the night.
• The Crusaders got the only goal they would need in the 22nd minute. Senior Michelle Mottonen (South Barrington, Ill./Fremd [TCU]) carried the ball on a lengthy run on the counter and fed Cronin at the top of the 18. Cronin looked to slip a pass into the center of the box, and a number of players converged on the ball – including the CSU keeper. The ball got knocked directly back to Cronin on the right side of the box, and the senior calmly drilled the ball into the upper portion of the goal to make it 1-0 Valpo.
• Valpo controlled a good part of play following the goal the remainder of the match, out-shooting CSU 13-8 the rest of the way, including an 8-0 advantage in shots on goal.
• The Crusaders dealt well with pressure from the Vikings in the late stages of the match as CSU pushed forward looking for the equalizer and got some help from the woodwork as well to keep the clean sheet, as Maren Melnick put a shot off the crossbar in the 88th minute.

Inside the Game

• Barrett earned her second clean sheet in five starts in goal for the Crusaders.
• Cronin moved into second place alone in program history in career goals with her 22nd career tally. With 51 career points, the senior is now just one point shy of Emily King and Kendall Brown for second place all-time in points as well.
• Cronin has found the match-winner in three of the Crusaders’ four victories this year, already leaving her just one match-winning goal shy of the program single-season record. She now owns nine career match-winners, just one behind Lori Moore for tops on that career chart as well.
• The win marks the fourth time since joining the Horizon League the Crusaders have won their league opener (4-5-1) – each of the previous three years (2011, 2012, 2014), Valpo finished in third place or better in the final league table.

Thoughts From Head Coach John Marovich

“Anytime you can go on the road in the Horizon League and come away with points, it’s a good thing. But to get all three points is impressive, and I’m very proud of the team’s effort tonight.”

"I was pleased with our back four, especially Ali Quillen and Sydney Gountounas, tonight in how they dealt with service and how they handled the Cleveland State attacking players. The block of four held their shape and made quality decisions in possession.”

“April’s goal was a product of a great individual performance and attacking mentality from Michelle. She exploded through the central midfielders, combined with several players to create a solid chance and April cleaned up the rebound.”

“This result was the product of a total team performance. Every player did what was asked of them to put our program in a position to get a result. It may have been as simple as holding onto a ball late or going into the midfield and being a ball-winner. Everyone was needed to get the result tonight.”

Next Up

The Crusaders (4-5-0, 1-0-0 Horizon) take on their final non-league opponent of the season at Brown Field on Sunday afternoon as they host Morehead State. It will be Senior Day for the program, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3, WatchESPN and the ESPN app, and will also feature an audio broadcast on WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso). Links for the live video, audio and stats will be available via ValpoAthletics.com.