The Valpo soccer team put on a show in its home opener at Brown Field Sunday afternoon, rolling to a 3-0 win over visiting Purdue Fort Wayne. The day was highlighted by freshman Kiara Desiderio (St. John, Ind./Hanover Central) netting a brace in her first collegiate home match, playing just 40 minutes from her hometown.
 
How It Happened

• It was a true front-foot start for the Beacons on Sunday, as Valpo dominated the match's early minutes and came away two goals to the good. The scoring opened in the ninth minute on a corner kick which freshman Brylie Walos (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) swung into the center of the box, where it hit off a Mastodon defender's legs on the fly and into the back of the net for a 1-0 advantage.
• It took the Beacons less than four minutes to double the lead. Freshman Martha Goddard (London, England/Alleyns School) ran onto a ball down the right side, cut inside to get her defender on her back and then tapped a right-footed pass into the run of Desiderio, who was by her defender. Desiderio's first touch took her to the corner of the six, and with her second touch, she sent a right-footed shot into the lower-left corner to make it 2-0.
• Valpo carried a 2-0 advantage into halftime, with goalkeeper Kate Sheridan (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) doing her part to keep the Mastodons off the board. A shot from distance in the 34^th minute required Sheridan to jump to knock over the bar, and then on the ensuing corner, Purdue Fort Wayne was able to get a relatively open shot from just outside the six, but Sheridan was there to smother it.
• The Beacons had a number of strong opportunities on either side of intermission to add to their lead, but were unable to do so. Meanwhile, the Mastodons looked like they might be able to slice the edge in half in the 66^th minute, as a defensive miscue and an unfortunate deflection led to a 1-v-1 in the box, but Sheridan was on her toes and came out to make a sliding save.
• Valpo put the bow on the victory in the final minute. Senior Molly O'Rear (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) hit a long ball from across midfield into the open run of junior Tatum Coleman (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) down the left-hand side. Coleman squared it into the center of the box, where Desiderio was making a run of her own and took a first-time shot with her right foot into the top shelf to complete her brace.

 
Inside the Game

• The three-goal win was Valpo's largest winning margin since a 5-1 triumph over Chicago State on Aug. 31, 2023.
• Sunday's result matched the largest win in a home opener in program history — the 2017 side held an identical 3-0 win in its home opener against Grace.
• Valpo has won its home opener in each of the last four seasons.
• In her third collegiate match, Desiderio netted the first two goals of her collegiate career. She is the first MVC freshman to notch a brace against a D-I opponent this season.
• This is the second straight season a Beacon freshman has recorded a brace in early-season action — Kaleigh Shafer (Shelby Township, Mich./Eisenhower) did so last season versus Wright State.
• Goddard picked up her first collegiate assist on Desiderio's first goal of the match.
• Coleman's primary assist on the final goal was her second of the season, tying her for MVC-high honors, while O'Rear's assist was her first of the season and the fifth of her career.
• Sheridan ended the afternoon with four saves to earn the first clean sheet of her career.
• Over half of the Beacons' starting XI was made up of freshmen Sunday afternoon, as Goddard, Walos and Ashley Harvatin (Lake St. Louis, Mo./Timberland) all made their first collegiate starts.
• Valpo controlled the match from start to finish, ending the afternoon with a 22-10 advantage in shots, including a 9-4 edge on goal.
• The Beacons lead the all-time series over the Mastodons 14-6-1 — the 14 wins tying Valpo's record against Indiana State for the most wins over a single opponent in program history. While Valpo has enjoyed the better of the all-time series, Sunday's win snapped a four-match losing streak to the Mastodons, as Valpo's last victory came back in 2017.

 
Thoughts From Coach Marovich
"I was really pleased with the entire squad today. We talked about how we were going to transform the environment on the pitch with energy, intensity and the mentality to win the ball back. We got that all day from every player on the field, and the players who didn't play brought that same intensity from the sideline."
 
"Great to see the goals we scored today — Kiara did a great job finishing on her two goals, and got two great passes to her from Martha and Tatum. Martha was big on the set piece as well to help get us the first goal. I was happy with the attack overall — besides the goals, we created some other good chances and were consistently getting numbers into the box.
 
"Just like every other match we play, we'll use today and grow from it. We had a lot of great performances today, and now how are we going to use that to get better for Thursday?"
 
Next Up
Valpo (1-1-1) continues its three-match homestand under the lights Thursday evening as it welcomes Eastern Illinois to Brown Field for a 7 p.m. kickoff.