WAUKESHA, Wis. - Over the course of a long, challenging season, a young team often has many opportunities to learn, make progress and grow.
The Carroll University women's soccer team maintained that positive, patient approach as it lost to No. 10-ranked Wheaton College 2-0 in a blustery, cool College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin game at Schneider Stadium on Wednesday night.
It was the second consecutive home-field conference loss for Carroll, which dropped to 0-2-2 in the league standings and 3-7-4 overall.
Wheaton, the defending CCIW champion which improved to 4-0 to remain atop the conference standings and improved to 11-2 overall, scored what became the winning goal as sophomore defender Sarah Tomich - a two-time CCIW Defensive Player of the Week selection this season - converted a penalty kick in the 42nd minute.
Sophomore forward Isabelle Oliver added the other goal off an assist from All-American senior midfielder Madison Peebles at the 60:16 mark for the experienced, battle-tested Thunder, who outshot Carroll 12-0 - generating 10 shots on goal.
Junior goalkeeper
Christina O' Block (Libertyville, Ill.) was a bright spot throughout the contest, registering eight saves versus the high-octane Wheaton lineup in playing the entire 90 minutes for Carroll.
Despite the difficult outcome, seventh-year Carroll head coach
Susie Foster emphasized that the valuable experience will only help in her young team's progression.
"I was extremely proud of our effort today," Foster said. "That was one of the top teams in the country and perfectly exemplified just how difficult the competition is in the CCIW. All in all, we once again were able to do some things that we weren't able to do before and continued to make progress on the field.
"Being a young team, we again noticed how a lot of players stepped up, made the most of the experience and played their best game of the season. That said, we also continued to witness the significant leadership demonstrated by our seniors and the impact it has made in working through the situation. Even though it didn't turn out in our favor, we clearly took another step forward, did a nice job of assuming our roles and competed with a lot of grit and determination.
"Following the PK in the first half, I was very pleased with the way we fought back, attempted to create opportunities and played hard the rest of the way. It's all about recognizing what we did well out there, staying positive and building off of it. We are by no means satisfied or content with what happened. At this point, we just want to use it as a good motivator for the games to come."
