Valparaiso University

The Valpo soccer team made Thursday's home opener at Brown Field a fun one, scoring twice in the opening 13 minutes and cruising to a 4-0 victory over Western Illinois.
 
How It Happened

• The Beacons opened the scoring in the eighth minute. Alyssa Thomas (Waunakee, Wis./Waunakee [Wright State]) looped a pass into the path of Ashley Trippeer (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) running down the right wing. Trippeer crossed it back into the box along the ground, where it made its way to Brylie Walos (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead), who was sprinting in from the left and found herself unmarked near the top of the six. The sophomore finished with her right foot to put Valpo on top.
• Five minutes later, the advantage was doubled. The Beacons took a corner into the box, and after it pinged around a couple times, a WIU defender attempted to clear it. But Trippeer was crashing the six, and the clearance attempt ricocheted off the junior and into the back of the net.
• Martha Goddard (London, England/Alleyns School) added a second-half brace to cap the scoring. The sophomore's first goal came on a penalty in the 67^th minute after a WIU handball in the box, and she added her second in the 75^th minute, running onto a through ball between the Leathernecks' center backs from Tripper and converting a 1-v-1 opportunity against the WIU keeper.

 
Inside the Match

• Valpo's four goals and its four-goal margin of victory were the program's largest since a 5-1 win at Western Illinois last season.
• The four-goal home win was the Beacons' largest home win since downing Chicago State by a 5-1 final Aug. 31, 2023.
• Trippeer stood out Thursday, as the junior was involved in three of the Beacons' four goals, scoring the second and assisting on the first and fourth. She had entered the match with just one goal and no assists in the first 37 matches of her collegiate career.
• Trippeer is the first Valpo player with a multi-assist match since Molly O'Rear did so at Western Illinois last year, and the first with three goal involvements in a match since O'Rear and Kiara Desiderio (St. John, Ind./Hanover Central) did so in the aforementioned match.
• Goddard's second-half brace was the first two-goal match of her collegiate career. The sophomore is now up to five career goals.
• Walos' goal, the match-winner, was the first of her collegiate career.
• Thomas picked up the secondary assist on the match-winning tally, her second helper of the year. She now has three assists in her two seasons as a Beacon and four total for her collegiate career.
• Valpo ended the night with a 19-8 advantage in shots over the Leathernecks, including an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal, and a 5-1 edge in corner kicks.
• 21 players saw action for the Beacons Thursday evening, including three Valpo debuts — Salange Bell (Montclair, N.J./Montclair Kimberly Academy [Montclair State]) played the second half in goal, making one save, while Meja Blomkvist (Uppsala, Sweden/Celsiusskolan) and Payton Rofe (Heath, Texas/Los Alamitos {Calif.} [VCU]) came off the bench in the second half for their respective collegiate debuts.
• Sofia Raco (Mississauga, Ont./Holy Name of Mary College School) earned her first collegiate start.

Thoughts From Coach Marovich
"I thought the first 35 minutes we had a real good press, which really allowed us to get ourselves into the box. We were able to find the net twice, which I think really helped our momentum through the match, so it was nice to see us put those chances away early."
 
"You put some goals away, and then like every time out, it becomes a battle. I just thought that we really fought through that – we were able to get out and win a lot of head balls tonight."
 
"It was really nice to get Martha her first goal of the year on the penalty, and I think that really catapulted her into getting that second goal, so I'm really happy for her tonight. I thought Ashlee's service on Brylie's goal was really such a good idea and well executed."
 
"I'm really proud of the entire group - we got everybody action tonight, and some people got their first collegiate action, which was really good. I was just happy with the overall performance."
 
Next Up
Valpo (1-1-1) closes out the weekend at home Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. kickoff against former Horizon League rival Detroit Mercy.