WAVERLY, Iowa – No. 2 seed Wartburg women's soccer is set for an American Rivers Conference Championship match on the road at No. 1 seeded Loras College on Saturday, Nov. 6 with kickoff slated for 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 6 – 5:30 p.m. – Dubuque, Iowa – Rock Bowl
Wartburg Knights (15-2-1, 7-1 A-R-C) at Loras Duhawks (17-0-1, 8-0 A-R-C)
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In the Polls
The Knights enter the contest nationally ranked by
D3soccer.com at No. 25 and regionally ranked No. 5 in the
region IX poll from the United Soccer Coaches. Loras is recognized nationally in both the D3soccer.com and
United Soccer Coaches poll with rankings at No. 12 and No. 9 respectfully. The Duhawks also hold the top spot of the region IX poll.
Last Time Out
The Orange & Black defeated Simpson College 1-0 in their semifinal competition on Wednesday, Nov. 3 at Salzwedel Field. The first half was a defensive bout with both teams making shots hard to come by. The Knights came out aggressive in the second half and were rewarded when
Joy Smith found the net in the 50
th minute off assists from
Katie Berglund and
Gabby Corday. Wartburg's defense continued its strong showing by holding off any Simpson attacks to close out the 1-0 shutout victory.
Loras and the University of Dubuque met in the other semifinal on Wednesday, Nov. 3 where the Duhawks came away with a 1-0 victory in double overtime. The game-winner was scored in the 105
th minute by Ryleigh O'Brien.
Loras and Wartburg met earlier this season on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at Salzwedel Field. The Duhawks won the back-and-forth match 2-1 off a late goal in regulation. The Knights scored early in the fourth minute of play when Berglund scored an unassisted goal to make it 1-0. Loras answered in the 19
th minute and the match would stay tied 1-1 until the 81
st minute when the Duhawks netted the eventual game-winner.
Both teams are 3-0 since the regular season matchup and have outscored opponents a combined 24-1. The all-time series between the schools is led by Loras 24-8-9, but the Knights have won two out of the last three contests.
Wartburg
Offensively, the Knights are led by Smith and
Kate Luers who are both over 20 total points this season. Smith scored her 12
th goal in the semifinals and has added two assists to put her season total at 26 points. Luers has totaled 21 points so far this season from nine goals and three assists. As a team the Orange & Black are outscoring opponents 50-8 off an average of 19.2 shots per game.
On defense Wartburg is anchored by goalkeeper
Marissa Lopez, who has started every match and has logged 1486:52 minutes in goal. Lopez has recorded 69 saves with a save percentage of 90.8% through 18 matches played. As a team the Knights are allowing an average of 7.9 shots allowed resulting in an average of just 0.44 goals allowed per game. The Knights have won 10 matches this season by way of shutout.
Loras
The Duhawk offense is led by Abbiy Ericksen, Jacobi Brynn and Payton McDonnell who all have totaled 20 or more points this season. Ericksen leads the Duhawks in goals scored with 11 and McDonnell leads the team in assists with 16.
Kyndal Kells has logged 1013:17 minutes in 12 starts at goalkeeper for Loras this season. Kells has a save percentage of 91.7% and has recorded 33 saves with only three goals allowed.
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