CHICAGO (September 18, 2022)
In Short…
Corissa Koontz's goal in the 71
st minute sent the Loyola University Chicago women's soccer team past visiting La Salle (5-4-0, 0-2-0 A-10) this afternoon by a final score of 1-0 at Loyola Soccer Park. Today's victory, Loyola's first Atlantic 10 Conference win in any sport, moves the Ramblers to 5-2-2 overall and 1-0 in A-10 play.
Head Coach Barry Bimbi's Thoughts…
"Very excited to get the three points at home. We tried to not build the moment up too big, but you could see in the first half that some nerves crept in with the girls. They felt the pressure to get the result. To fight through the occasion of hosting the University's first Atlantic 10 home game and getting a result makes me very proud."
How It Happened
Abby Swanson came out aggressive early on a sweltering late summer afternoon in Rogers Park, registering a pair of shots inside the opening eight minutes. Loyola began to ask questions of La Salle goalkeeper Michela Auguadro as the half wore on, with both
Madeleine Barone and
Megan Nemec forcing stops out of the Explorers' netminder just before the quarter-hour mark.
After seeing Swanson put her attempt from 25 yards out over the crossbar,
Amanda Cassidy unleashed a rocket from the edge of the box that nearly slipped through the fingertips of Auguadro in the 29
th minute.
Sarah Noonan set her sights on netting the opener two minutes later when she found space in the box, only for Auguadro to make a diving save to keep things scoreless going into halftime.
Ricshya Walker had designs on giving La Salle the lead only eight minutes into the second half, battling her way to the edge of the six-yard box before ringing her blast off the crossbar. Noonan looked to put the Ramblers in front on the other end, but saw her shot from the top of the arc collected by Auguadro in the 56
th minute. Nemec knocked on the door again in the 65
th minute, watching Auguadro turn away her right-footed rocket at her near post.
Koontz and Noonan combined to provide the afternoon's magic moment with just under 20 minutes remaining. Following a long run that took her to the right edge of the La Salle 18-yard box, Noonan delivered a pass towards the middle of the penalty area that found a sliding Koontz, who directed past a diving Auguadro and inside the far post to give the Ramblers a 1-0 advantage. Auguadro kept the margin at one in the 73
rd minute, bringing in Cassidy's rolling try.
Following a relatively quiet opening 75 minutes, Loyola goalkeeper
Naya Lipkens came up with a pair of crucial stops down the stretch to seal the Maroon & Gold's victory. In the 80
th minute, Lipkens did just enough to push away Walker's point-blank look. The Rambler netminder added one more key denial in the game's closing minute, diving at her near post to turn away Haley Gschrey and push Loyola's unbeaten run to four games.
Looking At The Numbers
- Today's win, Loyola's first over La Salle in five tries, moves the Ramblers to 9-0-2 (.909) in conference openers since 2012.
- Koontz notched her second goal of the season, a mark that ties her for second on the Rambler roster, and first career game-winner in the second half.
- Noonan was credited with her second assist of 2022 on Coontz's tally.
- Lipkens finished the afternoon with two saves en route to her third shutout of the year as Loyola posted an 11-2 edge in shots on goal.
- Auguadro was spectacular in defeat for La Salle, racking up 10 saves.
Up Next
Loyola is on the road next week to take on No. 12 Saint Louis (September 22) and George Washington (September 25).
