Showing no signs of slowing down, the IWU women’s soccer team is 12-5 and ranked first in the CCIW. In their game against Elmhurst College, they shut the Bluejays out by a score of 3-0.
The Titans recorded a total of 17 shots on goal in 90 minutes— a total five times more than their opponents who ended the night with three.
In the first-half of the game, the Titans had no problem getting shots on goal, but struggled with putting the ball in the back of the net.
Failing to score in their first eight shot attempts, IWU went into the second-half scoreless.
On both sides of the ball, their opponents did not get off to a good start. In the first-half, the Jays were only able to record two shots on goal.
Defensively, they allowed the Titans to come two shots shy of posting a 10 shot first-half.
After 45 minutes of play, even though the score was 0-0, it was apparent that the Titans were the superior team.
“We were battling for every ball, whether it was in the air, on the ground or close to rolling out-of-bounds. Overall, we did our best to keep the ball in play and out of the hands of our opponents,” junior defenseman Jehan Dib said.
The Titans efforts on offense were rewarded, as they scored 30 seconds into the second-half. 1-0 IWU with 44:30 left to play.
The goal came from the foot of junior midfielder/forward Cameron Hindel. No stranger to scoring, this was Hindel’s seventh goal of the season.
On the assist was freshman midfielder/forward Caelyn Steffens. This season, Steffens and Hindel are tied in assists with five a-piece.
The second-half was home to a scoring frenzy, as the Titans continued to pull away from their opponents.
“We were battling for every ball, whether it was in the air, on the ground or close to rolling out-of-bounds.” – Jehan Dib
Only four minutes after IWU netted their first goal, team scoring leader Caelyn Steffens found the back of the net for her tenth goal of the season.
To add insult to injury, the Titans would score one more goal before the game ended.
This goal came from Megan O’Neil in the last ten minutes of play, 3-0 Titans win.
Titan women’s soccer will face Augustana on Saturday, the winner taking home the trophy and title of conference champions.
Currently standing as the fourth-best team in the conference under IWU, Augustana holds a record of 10-3-2.