A one-goal deficit in the second half was no problem for the Valpo soccer team Sunday afternoon at Brown Field, as the Beacons got goals from freshmen Martha Goddard (London, England/Alleyns School) and Ashley Harvatin (Lake St. Louis, Mo./Timberland) to turn the tables on Wright State and come away with a 2-1 victory.
 
How It Happened

• The opening 45 minutes went by without either team finding the back of the net, but it wasn't for lack of chances. The Beacons had a number of opportunities that didn't result in shots.
• Early in the second half, goalkeeper Kate Sheridan (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) made a number of saves to keep the scoreline level.
• The Raiders broke through in the 53^rd minute with the match's opening goal. An initial shot was blocked by a Valpo defender, but the ball bounced straight to the feet of Taliah Pellizzari, who knocked it in to give WSU a 1-0 lead.
• It took the Beacons less than three minutes to equalize, however, as a pair of players from across the pond teamed up to get Valpo on the board. Daisy Boardman (Warrington, England/Bridgwater) played a ball from the defensive half into space ahead of Goddard. The freshman ran onto the ball, past the defensive line, 45 yards from goal, leaving her one-on-one with the WSU keeper. The keeper came out to the top of the box, but Goddard was able to side-step her to the left and coolly slotted a left-footed shot into the center of the empty goal.
• Less than 10 minutes later, in the 65^th minute, the Beacons struck again to take the lead. Goddard gained possession near the halfway line and carried down the left flank with a defender on her shoulder. Stopping at the edge of the box, she crossed to an open Harvatin above the right-hand side of the box. After a couple of touches, Harvatin launched a left-footed shot from 20 yards out which lined into the upper-left corner to make it 2-1 Valpo — a lead the Beacons maintained the rest of the way.

 
Inside the Match

• The 2-1 win was Valpo's first come-from-behind victory since rallying for a 2-1 win over Milwaukee Aug. 25, 2024.
• The victory was just the fourth for Valpo in 20 all-time meetings with Wright State, but is the second in as many seasons, as the Beacons won in Dayton last season by an identical score.
• Sunday's win snapped a streak of four straight home draws when matching up with the Raiders.
• Both Goddard and Harvatin scored the respective first goal of their collegiate careers.
• Goddard added an assist on Harvatin's goal as well for a three-point afternoon. The freshman has three assists on the season, one apiece in each of the last three matches.
• Cierra Welch in 2019 was the last Valpo freshman to tally at least three assists in a season, while Grace Rogers was the last Valpo player with assists in three consecutive contests, doing so to close out the 2017 season.
• Boardman's assist on Goddard's opener was the first collegiate point for the junior.
• Sheridan made a season-high seven saves in goal, including a number of standout stops, in the winning effort.

 
Thoughts From Coach Marovich
"It was a great response by the team today. I felt like we had some opportunities that we left on the pitch in the first half, but we tried to maintain our focus and composure to keep finding more opportunities."
 
"After going down a goal, I really was impressed by our team's resiliency to bounce right back, get the equalizer, then find the game-winner. I'm probably most impressed by the way they killed off the game after going in front. It was really nice to see the bounce-back from Thursday, but just to see how they managed the whole second half was really impressive."
 
"I thought there were so many great performances out on the pitch today, really gritty performances. Obviously kudos to Martha and Ashley for their first collegiate goals. The overall performance by the back line was strong, everybody went up and got a head ball today."
 
Next Up
Valpo (2-2-1) hits the road for its next three matches, starting with a Thursday evening match at Southern Indiana. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.