It would be tough to script a more thrilling way to open the 2024 home campaign for Valpo soccer than what took place on Brown Field Sunday, as trailing 1-0 through 70 minutes, the Beacons found the back of the net twice late to reverse the result and pull out a 2-1 victory over visiting Milwaukee.

How It Happened

• Milwaukee claimed the lead in the 14^th minute on its first shot on goal of the match, as Lainey Higgins found the back of the net off a Jenni Andjelic assist.
• A corner kick in the 20^th minute provided not one, but two quality opportunities for Valpo to level the scoreline. But a header towards the far post and a subsequent follow effort on the rebound were both headed off the line by Milwaukee's Kayla Rollins.
• Less than four minutes later, it was Valpo's turn for a team save, as sophomore Daisy Boardman (Warrington, Cheshire, England/Bridgwater) did her job at the post to clear a header away.
• Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Kate Sheridan (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) came up with a sprawling save to her left on a shot from the edge of the six-yard box in the 37^th minute to keep the Panthers from adding to their lead.
• Less than 12 minutes into the second half, it was senior left back Abby White (Commerce Township, Mich./Walled Lake Central) who came up with a stop on the line, making herself big on the far post off a corner to deny an in-close effort. Sheridan smothered the follow-up effort as it remained 1-0.
• A 10-pass sequence off a goal kick eventually resulted in the equalizer in the 72^nd minute. The key portion of the buildup was freshman Landyn Wessels (Maple Hill, N.C./Jacksonville) playing White on the left side, who proceeded to run a give-and-go with freshman Carly Stewart (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay) to get into the attacking half.
• White played in senior Addy Joiner (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton), who ran down the ball at the top-left corner of the box. Joiner was able to get around her defender and cut the ball back across the top of the six-yard box with a sliding effort. On the other end was senior Sam Gountounas (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew), who shot first time with her left foot from 10 yards out and snuck it inside the near post to make it a 1-1 game.
• It took just one more moment of magic from Joiner to turn the draw into a win, and it came with less than three minutes to play. Sophomore Anna Cup (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin) took a quick free kick from the defensive half and sent it 40 yards downfield towards Joiner. The senior ran onto it about 25 yards from goal, got past one defender, cut inside with another defender angling towards her and sent a sliding, hard, right-footed effort from 15 yards out inside the right-hand post for the go-ahead.

Inside the Match

• Both of Valpo's victories this season have occurred in come-from-behind fashion, as the Beacons conceded first in the Chicago State match as well before scoring three unanswered. Last season, Valpo was winless in eight matches (0-5-3) when conceding first.
• Sunday was the home opener for the Beacons, who won in their debut on Brown Field for a third straight season. The victory comes on the heels of one of the best home seasons in program history last year, as Valpo was 4-1-3 on Brown Field in 2023.
• Valpo improved to 3-16-0 in the all-time series against Milwaukee, with all three of Valpo's wins coming in the last four matchups against its former Horizon League counterpart.
• Sunday's win was over a Milwaukee squad which finished last season with an RPI of 36 and has won the Horizon League regular season title in 22 of the last 24 years.
• Joiner just keeps scoring. The senior forward's late strike was her second goal of the season and the 20^th of her Valpo career, making her one of just six players in program history to reach the 20-goal mark. She currently sits in a tie for fifth place in the Valpo uniform with Kendall Brown and is just one goal out of fourth.
• It was the seventh match-winning goal of Joiner's career, also moving her in a tie for fifth in Valpo history. Coming with just 2:36 to play, it was the latest match-winner in regulation by a Valpo player since Kelsey Jahn struck with 27 seconds remaining in the 90 minutes in the 2017 MVC opener at Missouri State.
• For the first time in her career, Joiner tallied a goal and an assist in the same game, as she recorded the helper on Gountounas' equalizer. Joiner now owns five career assists and 45 career points, tied for sixth in program history with Luisa Desario in the latter department.
• Joiner's goal moved her back into a tie on the team's season goals chart with Gountounas, whose 72^nd-minute effort was her second goal of the season. After scoring three goals in her first three seasons, Gountounas has two in the first three games of her senior campaign.
• Sheridan earned the win in goal, making six saves for the second consecutive contest.
• Valpo utilized 19 field players on Sunday, including the first start in the Valpo uniform for fifth-year Ella Schad (Prairie du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie [Coastal Carolina]) and the collegiate debut of freshman Kate Jeffery (Southampton, Hampshire, England/Barton Peveril Sixth Form College).
• White was the only Beacon to play the full 90 minutes, meaning that three games into the season, no field players have gone the distance every time out.
• Milwaukee held a 23-9 advantage in shot attempts and a 7-2 edge in corners. The Panthers put nine shots on target to the Beacons' seven. Milwaukee goalkeeper Parker Donahugh made three saves, while both sides had a pair of shots cleared off the line by opposing defenders.

Thoughts From Coach Marovich

"I'm really excited about our team being able to come from behind and get a result today. It was a hot day, Sunday games are always a grind, and we played a really good, really well-coached side in Milwaukee. We've talked about our team growing into the identity we're trying to find with this group, and this result shows part of that identity is that willingness to grind it out and fight until the very end."

"They've got a history of going to the NCAA Tournament, we're coming off an NCAA last year — when you match up teams which have been the tournament, you expect them to make plays like you saw today — defenders clearing balls off the goal line, making important tackles in the box."

"When you look at the moments when we needed players to make that one play late, you saw the seniors come up with those moments. Addy gets a cross to Sam on the back post, and Sam has found those goals on the back post a number of times in her career. Then late, Addy put in a great shift and was pretty gassed, but found that last run, that one last sprint and finished it off."

"I felt like we had some very good performances from newcomers today. Kate Jeffery came in and was really committed to that battle in trying to get across someone's face and being a good defensive presence as a 6 — it was a really good performance by her to lead in that space. Kaleigh Shafer did a really good job working in the midfield, grinding — a Molly-esque kind of approach to her performance. Towards the end of the game, once we took the lead, we're thinking 5-6 more head balls to kill off the game. We had 4-5 good opportunities to do that inside the 18 and we did that. Those are the moments I see as special things, important things to do as we went up against a quality side."

"Valpo Nation was awesome today. Thanks to all the students who came out — you brought great energy to the game and helped carry us to the end of the game. We're glad we were able to give you the result you deserved for your support!"

Next Up

Valpo (2-1-0) will play just one match next week, hitting the road to play at Ohio next Sunday at noon CT. The match can be seen live on ESPN+.