WAUKESHA, Wis. - Sophia Cuttill's first collegiate goal was a memorable one.
Cuttill, a 4-foot-10 freshman midfielder from Oshkosh, Wis., scored what proved to be the winning goal off an assist from freshman midfielder/forward Simone Lippmann (Lindenhurst, Ill.) at the 13:31 mark to lead the Carroll University women's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Benedictine University in a windy, warm nonconference game at Schneider Stadium on Tuesday night.
It was the third shutout victory of the season for Carroll, which remained unbeaten on its home field and improved to 5-2-1 overall.
The Pioneers, who entered the contest ranked ninth in the United Soccer Coaches Division III Central Region for the second consecutive week, equaled Benedictine by generating 11 shots but maintained a critical 7-3 shot-on-goal advantage.
On the game-winning sequence in the 14th minute, Lippmann sprinted toward the right corner to take possession of a deflected ball and abruptly served a low-lining shot back to the middle.
Cuttill, who made an aggressive move inside toward the box, finished the bang-bang play with a strong shot to the back right corner of the net.
"We've been working hard in practice on connecting with our passes and running through to the ball so it was nice to see it work with Sophia in the game situation,"said Lippmann, of her key momentum-shifting first assist of the season. "Overall, the night went very well, we played a lot better than in our last game (referring to a difficult 2-0 road loss to Ripon) and the team chemistry continued to improve. It was just a really cool feeling to be able to come away with a victory and show what we could do."
For Cuttill, being able to score her first collegiate goal at home under the bright lights only added to the special moment.
"It felt awesome," said a smiling Cuttill, of the memorable shot. "It was my first goal at the college level so to be able to combine with Simone and get a touch on the ball was special. In practice, we've really been working on running through to the ball and it was great to be able to finish. We know we're able to do it so it was great being able to show that we could. When that happened, you could feel the energy rise and everyone began screaming on the sidelines."
Junior forward Brookelyn Campbell (Oconomowoc, Wis.) rounded out the scoring by converting on an unassisted shot from the left side in the 48th minute for Carroll, which attempted five corner kicks.
Senior goalkeeper Christina O' Block (Libertyville, Ill.) registered three saves during the 90-minute battle to help preserve a shutout.
Benedictine dropped to 1-3-1 overall.
"We're super happy with the result against a good Benedictine team that is going to be very competitive in their league," Carroll eighth-year head coach Susie Foster said. "We competed with a lot of energy and saw some things that we hadn't really seen before so we're very proud of the effort. To be successful at the college level, it takes both the physicality and the mentality, not just one or the other. With any team, you have to learn on the field skill-wise but also have to have the focus and mentality to consistently win games. Seeing the two come together tonight showed what we are capable of and we'll continue to tweak some things as we move forward. Certainly, we're excited about what we witnessed out there and we'll keep building from it heading into our first CCIW game Saturday."
Stay up to date on Carroll women's soccer this season by going online to www.gopios.com, or by following the Pioneers on Facebook (Carroll University Athletics), Twitter (@pio_athletics), and Instagram (@pio_athletics).
