PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. ---
Krystal Rodriguez authored a collegiate-high 11 saves, but it was not enough as Trinity Christian College scored twice against a gusting wind to claim a 2-0 victory over University of St. Francis in the quarterfinal round of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Tournament on Saturday.
The loss ends the Saints' campaign at 12-6-1 with the 12 victories tying the school record for most wins in a single season. The .658 winning percentage was also the second-best mark in school history.
Rodriguez was crucial to keeping the match scoreless in the opening half, where she recorded eight of her 11 saves with the wind at her face. Trinity Christian finally broke the ice in the 69th minute when Litzy Corona just beat Rodriguez in a race to the ball and lofted it in for the game-winning goal.
The Trolls (11-4-4) added an insurance goal five minutes later when Jade Maldonado's shot hit the top of the crossbar before going in.
Michelle Urribarri stopped five shots on goal for the Trolls, including four in the second half, to register her sixth shutout of the campaign.Â
Trinity Christian outshot the Saints 20-6 overall, including 15-5 in attempts on goal.Â
Andrea Aguirre provided three of USF's six shots, all of which were on goal.
Notes: In three seasons since taking over the program, head coach
Al Palar has guided the team from two- and nine-win seasons to the school-record 12-win campaign this fall … Rodriguez will more than likely finish in the Top 3 of CCAC goalies in multiple categories by the time the season ends for all teams. She currently leads the league in save percentage (.855), ranks second in goals-against average (0.90) and sits tied for third in goals allowed with 17 … USF's other 12-win campaigns came in 2003 (12-6-3) and 2012 (12-7) … The highest winning percentage for a single season in St. Francis history is .667, which happened in 2015 when the Saints went 11-5-2 … Saturday's loss was just the second by more than one goal on the year.
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