JOLIET, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis women's soccer team played the favorite in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup on Tuesday evening, picking up a 2-0 win over Indiana University Northwest. The Fighting Saints improved to 7-3-5 overall on the year with a league-leading 5-0-3 mark in conference play.
First Half
St. Francis took control in the first half with
Isabel Diez making the goalie work early as she fired off a quick shot before
Ariadne Gonzalez and
Andrea Aguirre got in on the action. Indiana Northwest gained its first look in the 17th minute, but
Krystal Rodriguez denied the attempt to keep the score locked at 0-0. The Saints continued to put pressure on the RedHawk defense with a pair of shots before Gonzalez found Aguirre, who netted the first goal of the match at the 26:33 mark. With the 1-0 lead at hand, St. Francis did not let up its attack, taking two more attempts at scoring before the end of the half. USF's defense did not give the RedHawks much to work with as the guests were unable to produce any more looks on target. The Saints' defense held Indiana Northwest to just three shots over the first 45 minutes, while USF authored seven.
Second Half
After the break, it was the visitors taking the first shot of the second half just one minute into the action. However, once again, it was Rodriguez making the save. In the 49th minute, Gonzalez made a good run to fire a shot on goal, but the RedHawk keeper denied the attempt with a diving save to keep the score 1-0. St. Francis kept its aggressive offense coming and its efforts were rewarded in the 87th minute when Gonzalez pushed one in from the left side to hit
Litzy Flores in the middle, who then sent it home to put USF up 2-0. The two-point advantage would hold to the end of the contest, allowing St. Francis to remain undefeated in CCAC competition.
The Saints totaled 18 shots in the match (10 on goal) compared to Indiana Northwest's nine. Gonzalez had five shot attempts in the contest, while Aguirre,
Mia Ocana and
Alexis Marroquin each took three. Gonzalez also picked up the two assists on the day. Rodriguez grabbed four saves, while not allowing a goal in her 90 minutes of work in the net for the Saints.
Up Next
St. Francis will be back in action next Wednesday, Oct. 23 when it hosts St. Ambrose University at 7 pm. The contest will take place at Joliet Memorial Stadium.
You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.
