Wheaton, Ill. – The #3 Carroll University women's soccer team secured a 2-0 victory over #2 Wheaton College in the CCIW Semifinals. Allowing the Pioneers to advance to the CCIW Conference finals for the first time in school history. Senior Jo Ueland and sophomore Elli Pease were the two Pioneers to find the back of the net.
The Pioneers (11-5-3) took an impressive 26 shots throughout the game, compared to just nine taken by the Thunder. 14 of Carroll's shots were on target, forcing 12 saves by Wheaton's goalkeeper. Carroll was able to win nine corner kicks on the night. Senior goalkeeper Caitlin Fitzsimons had to make just two saves during the game, securing her 10 shut-out of the season.
Both teams would start the game looking to get an advantage as they both fired off three shots in the opening 18 minutes of play. The Pioneers would then look to pull away at the 26' minute mark of the half as they would take seven unanswered shots to end the end the half. Carroll was unsuccessful in finding the back of the net and would find themselves in 0-0 draw going into the half.
Coming out of the half, Carroll looked determined to score as they fired off four shots in the opening six minutes of the half. However, the Thunder would stand their ground and not let one into the back of the net. Wheaton would go on the offensive looking to gain an advantage but would not find any luck as Carroll's core back line would hold strong. The Pioneers had enough of this, taking three more shots before Pease found the back of the net in the 68' minute. Having a 1-0 lead and all the momentum, Carroll would look to keep the pressure on with a bombarding of shots. In the 76' minute it would pay dividends as Ueland would score off an assist from Brielle Ingalsbee to take a 2-0 lead. Carroll would control the rest of the game, only allowing one more shot on goal, and sealing their ticket to the CCIW Conference finals.
The #3 Pioneers will be traveling to #1 North Central College on Saturday, November 4th. Carroll dropped the first match to the Cardinals 0-2 earlier in the year at Schneider Stadium. The time of the game is TBD and can be found on gopios.com/wsoccer.
