Contact: Brock Reisler, Assistant Executive Director, breisler@midwestconference.org
DECORAH, Iowa – Luther College and Lawrence University have punched their tickets to the Midwest Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament final after securing semifinal wins on Friday afternoon.
Top-seeded Luther drew with No. 4 Grinnell College but advanced in penalty kicks 1-1 (4-3), while No. 3 Lawrence University ousted No. 2 Lake Forest College 1-0.
Grinnell (7-9-3) struck first in the opening semifinal as Rylee Howard found the back of the net, unassisted, in the 20th minute. However, the Norse responded in the 37th minute thanks to Sarah Pollei’s goal with the assist credited to Annabelle Pollock. Luther (8-2-5) had a 7-4 edge in first half shots and the sides were even at one apiece through the first 45 minutes.
Both teams had chances in the second half, but neither side was able to break through as the match went into overtime. The first overtime was a scoreless 10-minute period, but Luther’s Suzett Hinds Cruz had a penalty kick in the second overtime. However, Grinnell’s Peyton Dixon made the game-saving save, and the teams went into penalty kicks tied at one.
Once in PKs, the first three shots were missed before Grinnell took a 2-1 lead. After Abigail Lamers scored to tie the shootout, Rylie Bucklin stopped Penelope Lasell and Annabelle Pollock answered for the Norse to grab the lead. Teya Lochridge kept Grinnell’s season alive, but Kate Van Deventer answered for the Norse. Needing a score to keep the match going, Grinnell’s Howard was denied by Bucklin as Luther advanced to Saturday’s championship.
Luther had a 16-7 advantage in shots, and was led by Hinds Cruz, Pollei and Sofia Biedermann who all had three. Bucklin made three saves in goal. Grinnell was led offensively by Howard and Caroline Novak who each had two shots, while Dixon recorded nine saves.
The second semifinal was not scoreless for long, as Lawrence (13-2-5) got on the board in the ninth minute on a goal from Hannah Kalt. The Vikings surrendered just one shot from Lake Forest (14-3-2) in the first half and led 1-0 at intermission.
Lawrence’s defense stood tall in the second half as well – giving up only three shots in the second half – as the Vikings advanced to their third consecutive MWC Tournament final.
Lawrence had an 11-4 advantage in shots over the course of the match, with Ava Elders registering four of those. Claire Brockhert made two saves in goal.
Lake Forest was led offensively by Gianna Logue’s two shots. Sara Swenson made seven saves in goal for the Foresters.
Saturday’s MWC Tournament Final will begin at 2 p.m. The winner receives the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Tournament.