Contact: Lou Groce, Director of Media and Information, 920-229-8157

GRINNELL, Iowa – For the first time in school history, the Knox College women’s soccer team won the Midwest Conference (MWC) regular season championship and is set to host the 2016 MWC Tournament at Jorge Prats Field. 

The undefeated Prairie Fire come into the weekend as the heavy favorite after cruising through the league 9-0 and sporting a 17-0-1 record.  Knox has shutout 16 of its 18 opponents on the season and have allowed just two goals all year.  The last goal they allowed came way back on October 1 in a 7-1 win over Monmouth College.  Knox leads the nation in goals against average (.116) and shutout percentage (.882) and are second in the country in save percentage (.947).  Prairie Fire goalkeeper Sierra Daniger and defender Sydney Fretwell have been named MWC Defensive Performer of the Week once each while teammate Angelica Gamez has earned it twice. 

Knox’s offense is no slouch either.  They lead the conference with 29 goals scored and Kayla Brown leads the league with 20 points and eight goals.  Jessica Petersen and Alex Robertson are also major offensive threats as they have combined for 20 goals on the season overall. 

The Prairie Fire will play the second semifinal tomorrow afternoon and will take St. Norbert College, who they just defeated 2-0 last Saturday.  The Green Knights are making their second straight trip to the postseason.  Ellie Lochner has powered the St. Norbert offense in conference action, finding the back of the night six times, which is good for fourth in the league.  Monica Stephans leads the club with five assists on the season and is also a threat to score. 

Maddie Plinska anchors the Green Knight defense and has allowed just seven goals in conference action and has produced a .792 goals against average.  She also has a .854 save percentage. 

No. 2 seed Lake Forest will take on No. 3 Grinnell to open the tournament.  It will be a tight matchup as both teams played to a 0-0 tie back on September 25.  Grinnell has been playing great soccer as of late, winning its last five matches.  Carolyn Silverman is the most important player to Grinnell’s offense as she has scored eight goals, while the next closest Pioneer, Hannah Truesdale, has just four.  Silverman also leads the team in points (17), shots (50) and shots on goal (27).   Regan Kasprak has six shutouts to her resume and has made an impressive 76 saves. 

The Foresters have a much more balanced attack this fall as 11 players have scored and team-leader Susie Baca has just five.  Joe Hendriksen has five assists on the season to lead the team and knocked in two goals.  Lake Forest is second in the league with 24 goals scored in league action and surrenders just one per game.  Defensively, Lake Forest keeper Rachel Tenuta has four shutouts in conference play and has a 1.022 goals against average.  Tenuta, like Daniger, has a phenomenal defense in front of her as she is averaging just 2.56 saves per game. 

Lake Forest and Grinnell will start the tournament at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow morning with Knox and St. Norbert playing the second semifinal at 2:00 p.m. The winners will advance to the MWC Championship match on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. with the winner earning the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.