JOLIET, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis women's soccer team completed its 2025 regular season on Wednesday night after netting three goals in a 3-2 victory over the Titans of Indiana University South Bend.  The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory solidifies the Fighting Saints' conference record at 8-2-2 on the year and 11-3-3 overall.  Falling just one point shy of joining in a three-way tie for first place in league standings with Holy Cross College (Ind.) , Saint Xavier University and St. Ambrose University (Iowa) , USF finishes the regular season in a tie with Olivet Nazarene University for fourth place honors.  As a result of ONU defeating the Saints via a conference goals allowed tie-breaker, the Saints (No. 5 seed) will travel to Olivet Nazarene (No. 4 seed) on Tuesday for its first playoff match of the CCAC Tournament.

First Half
St. Francis got the offense started in the first half, out-shooting the Titans 6-2 over the first 24 minutes of play.  The Saints broke the scoreless tie behind the effort of Isabel Diez, who put a shot past IUSB keeper Rylee Cotton at the 3:08 mark.  Twenty-one minutes later, USF would connect for its second score of the game, finding the back of the IUSB net once again after a cross from Litzy Flores to the middle of the field allowed Mia Ocana to tap the ball in from three yards out.  Both teams continued to work the ball the remainder of the half with each team claiming two more shots apiece only to have all tries from both squads come up empty.  That enabled the Saints to go into the intermission with a 2-0 advantage.

Second Half
The two-score lead lasted for 25 minutes after the break before IUSB's Olivia Enyeart cut the Titan's deficit to 2-1 with her sixth goal of the season.  Nonetheless, the Saints continued to apply their aggressive pressure and were able to produce their third score of the match in the 72nd minute.  Sofia Velazquez was credited with the goal – the first of her collegiate career - on an assist from Jimena Diaz, to widen the USF lead to 3-1.  IUSB struggled to find a groove the remainder of the match until the 80th minute when Katie Coleman took advantage of an open net goal immediately after USF keeper Kadixamayrin Mireles initially saved a previous shot to mark the final score at 3-2.

The Saints overrode the Titans in shot attempts on the day, authoring 20 compared to IUSB's 12.  Andrea Aguirre tallied the most tries for St. Francis with four, while Diez, Ocana and Kelly Flores each recorded three.  Starting keeper Giselle Mata picked up the win for the Saints in the net, logging the first 64:26 scoreless minutes in goal, before Mireles came in to work the remaining 25:34 of the match.  Mata accounted for two saves on the day, while Mireles picked up three and allowed the two IUSB scores.

Up Next
The Saints will match up against Olivet Nazarene University in a battle of the No. 4 and 5 seeds in the CCAC Tournament on Tuesday Nov. 4.  As the lower seed, the Saints will travel to Bourbonnais, Ill. to take on the Tigers at the Snowbarger Athletic Complex.  Gametime is yet to be determined.

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