WAUKESHA, Wis. - Relentless.
That was a fitting way to describe the aggressive, high-octane performance of the Carroll University women's soccer team as it defeated North Park University 4-0 in a warm, humid College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin opener at Schneider Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
It was the fourth shutout of the season for Carroll, which has won six of its last seven and improved to 7-2 overall.
The Pioneers started fast and remained efficient, scoring twice over the course of the opening 21 minutes to build momentum.
Junior forward Rachel Van Sluys (Sheboygan, Wis.), the reigning CCIW Player of the Year, helped set the tone by scoring on an unassisted shot at the 10:16 mark.
On the key, confidence-building first goal of the game, Van Sluys took possession on the left side, slid between two defenders and fired a hard-lining, 13-yard shot into the right corner of the net.
It proved to be the winning goal and ultimately set the tone for the day for the Pioneers, who maintained an 8-3 shot-on-goal advantage.
Senior forward/midfielder Sabrina Georgeff (Naperville, Ill.) ensured a victory by following with an unassisted goal at the 20:51 mark and extended the lead to 3-0 by scoring on an assist from junior forward/midfielder Delaney Pruitt (Ringwood, Ill.) in the 59th minute.
"It was exciting to come out strong in our first conference game and score four goals to put them away," said Georgeff, who is currently tied with Van Sluys with a team-high eight goals on the season. "I was in the right spots at the right times so it felt good to be able to make the most of the opportunities and finish on both goals to help the team.
"With it being the first conference game and playing at home, we wanted to make a statement and use it as a good momentum builder for the games to come. From beginning to end, we connected well offensively and continued to gain confidence as the game went on. One of our goals is to always score early on, attempt to take control and maintain it for the entire day. It was just great to see everything work out and end it with a shutout. Everyone stepped up and contributed to make it happen."
Senior forward/midfielder Jess Coia (Sugar Grove, Ill.) added a goal off an assist from Van Sluys in the 67th minute to put an exclamation point on the day for Carroll, which generated six corner kicks in the contest.
Sophomore Christina O' Block (Libertyville, Ill.) and junior  Sabrina Sieger (Waukesha, Wis.) each contributed valuable minutes at goalkeeper to help preserve a shutout.
The Pioneers, who have a 3-1 record at home this season, have outscored the opposition 16-7 in the opening half.
Carroll head coach Susie Foster was proud of how her team seized the opportunity to open the conference season and played with a sense of urgency.
"Every conference victory is so important because each point means that much more as the season progresses," said Foster, whose young, enthusiastic squad has combined to outscore its last three opponents by an impressive 12-0 margin. "Against a very good conference team like North Park, it was a nice feeling to be able to come away with another strong victory on our field.
"We have done a great job of focusing on the fundamentals and capitalizing on our share of opportunities. Each day is a great building block in our preparation for the rest of the season. I'm just really proud of how we responded to the challenge and rose to the occasion in a big way."