JOLIET, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis women's soccer team suffered its fourth loss of the season on Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 defeat to NAIA No. 4-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University. The shutout, IWU's eighth of the season, pushed the Wildcats' record to 8-0-1 overall, while the Fighting Saints fell to 4-4-0.
First Half
Indiana Wesleyan's offense took control from the onset, attacking the St. Francis net five times in the first 22 minutes of play, resulting in a trio of saves from USF keeper
Giselle Mata. After ricocheting a shot off of a USF defender in the 43rd minute, the Wildcats connected for the only goal they would need directly thereafter on a subsequent shot which sailed past Mata. With the seconds ticking down before the halftime break, the Wildcats made one more push at the USF net, but after back-to-back IWU shot attempts in the 44th minute came up short - which included a defensive save from
Galilea Medina, her second such feat of the year - the score would hold at a 1-0 count entering the intermission with Indiana Wesleyan out-shooting the Saints 13-2 in the frame.
Second Half
Five minutes into the second half, Indiana Wesleyan would notch its second goal of the afternoon on its second try at the USF net. Similar to the first half, possession was dominated by the Wildcats throughout the remaining 45 minutes with the Saints attempting just one shot compared to IWU's 13. The guests later tacked on one more goal in the 57th minute to produce the final score.
Isabel Diez (2) and
Jalyssa Villafuerte (1) recorded USF's three shot attempts. Mata finished the match with 11 total saves in the net for St. Francis.
Next Match
The Saints will return to action on Wednesday (Sept. 23) when they travel to Chicago to face-off against Saint Xavier University. The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference match will begin at 5:00 pm at Deaton Field.
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