GARY, Ind. -- The University of St. Francis women's soccer team completed its 2026 regular season on Tuesday night after netting two goals in a 2-2 draw with the RedHawks of Indiana University Northwest. The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory solidifies the Fighting Saints' conference record at 7-1-2 on the year and 11-5-2 overall. After totaling 23 points during the regular season, USF finishes 2026 in sole possession of third place in conference standings. As a result, the Saints (No. 3 seed) will stay at home to host Holy Cross College (Ind.) (No. 6 seed) on Wednesday for its first playoff match of the CCAC Tournament.
First Half
St. Francis gained the first goal of the afternoon on its first shot attempt in the seventh minute of play with
Carisma Rosales sailing her scoring strike past IUN keeper Kaleigh Blatti. Indiana Northwest's offense struggled to counter with any successful looks as three attempts on target would result in saves from USF keeper
Giselle Mata before back-to-back defensive saves from
Jasmin Valles in the 19th and 20th minutes would aid the Saints in retaining their 1-0 lead. IUN's only score of the half would come on a penalty kick after an ill-timed USF foul in the box resulted in the hosts evening the score in the 23rd minute. St. Francis accounted for just four of the 17 total attempts between the two teams in the opening half with Mata keeping St. Francis in the match as she denied eight IUN strikes, helping leave the contest a 1-1 affair heading into the halftime break.
Second Half
The second half opened with dramatics as Indiana Northwest (12-4-2, 8-1-1) had a pristine chance to take the lead with a second penalty kick opportunity just 48 seconds into the period. The shot would sail wide of the USF net, however, leaving the match in a 1-1 deadlock. In the 59th minute, the standstill was finally broken as Rosales took advantage of a double assist from
Citlali Perez and
Cara Planeta to knock in a second score past Blatti, resulting in USF taking a 2-1 lead. That advantage would not last long, however, as 14 minutes later, the RedHawks would benefit from a goal of their own. IUN's second goal of the match stood as the final score, despite five subsequent shot attempts from USF in the remaining 17 minutes of play, including a crossbar shot off the foot of
Isabel Diez in the 77th minute.
Indiana Northwest ended the match with a 28-12 lead in shot attempts, while Mata made 10 saves in the draw. Rosales led St. Francis in shots with three, while Diez had two tries in the match.
Up Next
The Saints will match up against Holy Cross College (Ind.) in a battle of the No. 3 and 6 seeds in the CCAC Tournament on Wednesday Nov. 4. As the higher seed, the Fighting Saints will host the visiting Saints at Joliet Memorial Stadium. Gametime is yet to be determined.
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