The Illinois Tech Women’s Soccer team (9-1-1) suffered its first loss of the season against the North Park University Vikings (4-5-1), dropping the non-conference match 3-2.

How it Happened

• After each goalkeeper saved the first shot they saw, North Park’s Sam Moreno scored her 11th goal of the season by going top-shelf, giving North Park a 1-0 advantage 16:54 into the match.
• One of the match’s most influential stretches came between 28:18 and 32:40. Over a less than four minute span, the Scarlet Hawks had four shots on net saved by Viking netminder Theresa Weiss, one of which was a highlight-reel diving stop. After finally gathering possession, North Park’s Nikolet Baxevanakis scored on a Emica Quigley assist at the 32:40 mark.
• Illinois Tech’s Katie Hoefgen tallied her 12th goal of the match on a breakaway, taking a pass from Caeli Kennedy just before halftime to cut the lead in half.
• The Scarlet Hawks came out firing, taking five shots over the first 15 minutes of the second half.
• NPU scored first in the second half, with Clara Wernbo giving the Vikings a 3-1 lead with 15 minutes to play.
• With less than eight minutes to go, Hoefgen again found the back of the net thanks to a feed from Madison Harris.
• Hoefgen had another shot attempt saved by Weiss in the 85th minute. With 40 seconds left to play, Illinois Tech had one final chance with a Julia Taliana corner kick but the Vikings defense held strong to preserve the result.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Hoefgen took seven shots (six on goal) for her two goals.
• Kennedy had an assist and three shots (one on net).
• Harris had an assist.

Stats to Know

• North Park’s Weiss stood tall with nine saves.
• The Scarlet Hawks out shot the Vikings 17-15 overall and 11-10 on net.

Up Next

• Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play resumes on Wednesday, October 3 when the Scarlet Hawks travel to Concordia University Chicago for a 4 p.m. match.