GLIAC Tournament play for the SVSU women’s soccer team opened up with an uplifting win for the Cardinals on Tuesday, Oct. 30, only to have their playoff hopes squandered by Ferris State in a heartbreaking shootout on Friday, Nov. 2.
The Cardinals (11-3-3), who finished in third place, found a victory over the sixthplace University of Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers (6-9-1) in the quarterfinals.
The first half came and went with SVSU dominating play, outshooting the Rangers 15-4 and garnering one goal in the 23rd minute of play. The goal came from Molly Vanderhoff for her eighth of the season off a long assist from senior defender Samantha Dunn.
The Cardinals continued their strong play in the second, putting up 15 shots, keeping the Rangers at five, and piling on three goals. The first came from junior defender Jennifer Muana for her first of the season on a header off a corner kick from senior Amanda Minissale. Then, Vanderhoff made her way back onto the score sheet with her second goal of the game off a pass from junior midfielder Valentina Giambanco.
The last goal came in the 87th minute of play, as defender Zo Schultz passed to freshman forward Sarah Ismail, who sent it top-shelf and into the net for her second of the season.
The game finished with a score of 4-0. The Cardinals outshot the Rangers 33-10.
The Cardinals completed their next contest Friday night, losing to the Ferris State Bulldogs (15-2-3) in a shootout.
Ferris controlled the first half, outshooting the Cardinals 7-3, but the score remained 0-0 as the first half ended.
SVSU came out firing in the second half, as they paced the Bulldogs, booting nine shots on net against Ferris’ seven.
Still, after two halves and valiant efforts from both teams, the score remained tied at zero.
That continued through two overtimes, despite the Cardinals outshooting the Bulldogs 7-2 through both. The game then went to a shootout.
The first round of the shootout saw players from both teams score, as Giambanco and Ferris’ Bri Rogers both sent their shots past the goalkeepers and into the net.
The second round went scoreless for both teams, but the third round came and went with only Ferris scoring via Pia Nagel sending the ball past Cardinal goalkeeper Alyssa Watts and into the net.
SVSU answered back in the fourth round with captain Lindsay Stroebel sending the ball soaring past Grace Kraft and into the Bulldogs’ net.
When it came to the nail-biting fifth round, it was Ferris who managed to score. Abigail Gilmore scored the goal that led to the victory for Ferris and a heartbreak loss for the Cardinals, ending their season.
After the loss to Ferris, the team now can only wait to discover whether or not they will be placed in the NCAA tournament.
The playoff selection show will take place on Monday at 6 p.m. at ncaa.com
