Boxscore
DUBUQUE – Spurred by the play of junior midfielder Taylor Vermie (Cedar Rapids), Wartburg took a 3-0 win over the University of Dubuque in 2010 Iowa Conference Championships semifinal round action Nov. 5.
Vermie scored the first and eventual game-winning goal in the 33rd minute of the first half and came back for another one in the second stanza. Her third and fourth goals of the season led coach Sara Johnson’s program into its third league tournament championship match in the last four seasons.
Vermie’s game-winner came off a pretty give-n-go from fellow junior midfielder Katy Wendt (Bettendorf). Wendt turned at the 20-yard line and fed it to her down the right side, where she hit a high shot into the upper right hand corner of the Spartan net. Her second score was a high floating attempt that UD keeper Natalie Baker couldn’t reach in the upper left hand corner in the latter stages of the second half.
Senior defender Kelsey Kovacevich (Johnston) added the final goal off a corner kick feed from freshman midfielder Anna Aquino (Bettendorf). She took it on her foot perfectly and hammered it into the right side.
Wartburg (14-4-1) also received sophomore goalkeeper Monica Noti's (Carol Stream, Ill.) fourth shutout. She turned in four saves.
The Knights await the winner of the second semifinal (top-seeded Loras or fourth-seeded Luther) Saturday, Nov. 6, at 4:30 p.m. inside Loras College’s Rock Bowl in Dubuque.
Notes – Wartburg has faced the Duhawks in the previous two finals meetings with a win in 2007 and a tie in 2008. … Fans can check out live audio and video of Saturday’s championship via a link on the scrolling schedule section of www.go-knights.net, the Internet home of Wartburg athletics. … The Knights take a seven-match win streak into Saturday. … Kovacevich’s goal was the team’s 50th of the season, marking the first time since 2008 and the eighth time in the last nine years that they’ve been at 50-or-higher.
