The College of DuPage women’s soccer team fell to a strong Rock Valley team in a 3-1 loss after struggling to keep up with the speed and physicality of the Golden Eagles.
Going into the game, Rock Valley tallied 105 goals for the season and averaged 6.35 goals per game. The Golden Eagles were undefeated in 13 consecutive games.
“I thought we played well,” said women’s head soccer coach Matt Hanna. “They are the top team currently in our region and have beaten every team by big margins. We knew this coming into the game and thought to ourselves that we needed to try to compete and win our individual battles.”
To start the first half, Rock Valley came out strong by putting up shots on goals early and forcing COD’s defensive back line to stay deep in their own half.
Despite the Golden Eagles’ high offensive pressure, freshman Julie Leilani Garcia scored a tap-in goal with 36:25 left in the half off of a save from Rock Valley’s goalkeeper, which came from a free kick attempt by sophomore Anna Odisho.
Although the Chaparrals found the back of the net early in the first half, Rock Valley continued to apply pressure towards COD’s back line, resulting in the Eagles scoring only minutes after Garcia’s goal from a COD turnover in the back of the field to tie the game.
With 16:59 left in the first half, the Golden Eagles scored their second goal of the night after RVC’s Isabella Garrelts crossed the ball to Anika Elgin for the tap-in goal to give Rock Valley a 2-1 lead.
As a result of COD struggling to maintain possession and having to defend in their own half for the majority of the game, RVC totaled 17 shots in the first half along with seven corner kick opportunities.
Freshman Caitlin Yurkovich had a busy night after having a total of 13 saves and making a crucial one-handed save that hit the top of the crossbar with 28 minutes left in the second half.
“We went into this game knowing that it was going to be the hardest game of the season,” said Yurovich. “I’m really proud of the performance we put out there. To battle that entire game and not give up against a team that has scored over 100 goals this season and hold them to only three was really well done for us.”
With 30 minutes left in the match, a Chaparral defender scored an accidental own goal after attempting to clear the ball out of the box, which came from a cross attempt from RVC’s winger to make the score 3-1.
The Chaparrals are now 3-9-1 this season and will take on Illinois Valley Community College with a record of 1-10 at 1 p.m. on Oct. 17 in Oglesby, Ill.
