Even for a defender, it would be tough to go through an entire four-year college career without scoring a goal. However, Illinois senior Ashleigh Lefevre no longer has to worry about that as the Victorian finally netted the first of her career over the weekend. Off the back of a narrow loss to in-state rivals Northwestern, Illinois dominated proceedings against Maryland but had little to show for it at the hour mark, trailing 1-0 after an 8th minute Terrapins goal. However, a 64th minute equaliser set things up nicely for the final stretch. Then, in the 75th minute, Lefevre cleaned up after two of her Illini teammates narrowly missed out on putting the ball home, finishing from close range for the game-winner. Lefevre’s goal handed Illinois not only their first win of conference season, but their first points as they move to 1-4 in Big Ten action and 5-7 overall, hoping that this result is the catalyst for a late season charge.
Madison McComasky may only be in her second season of NCAA Division I, but the Incarnate Word senior joined Lefevre in tallying the first goal of her top-level college career as the Cardinals knocked off a Texas A&M-Corpus Christi side still missing Molly Arens. It took less than four minutes for McComasky to tally the opening goal of the game, which set Incarnate Word on their way as they took a 2-0 lead inside 12 minutes. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi would respond from the spot in the 85th minute, but a third Cardinals goal just 90 seconds later ended any hopes of a comeback for the Islanders. With an overtime loss to Houston Baptist later in the week, Incarnate Word now sit sixth in the seven-team Southland Conference on six points, but just two points off fourth position with six games remaining.
Some Aussie seniors score goals, others set them up. Alyssa Van Heurck did exactly that for La Salle this weekend, helping to tee up Mary Kate Vinkler for the only goal in the Explorers’ 1-0 win over Rhode Island to chalk up their first conference win of the season. The Western Australian’s pinpoint pass allowed Molly O’Brien to flick the ball on for Vinkler, who tucked home the eventual game-winner just five minutes into the contest. Van Heurck would also finish the game with a shot on target as the senior played the full 90 minutes, before backing up with an 85-minute outing in a loss to Richmond later in the week. The Explorers may currently sit third from bottom in the Atlantic 10 Conference, but there is a real logjam just ahead of them, so a couple of wins in quick succession could change everything.
It appears that Butler have forgotten how to lose, or maybe it’s a defence led by Claire Farrington combined with a potent offence that has the Bulldogs rolling at the moment. Despite being held to a 1-1 draw by St. John’s this week, Farrington and her Bulldogs teammates conceded just eight shots whilst the Butler offence rattled off 15 of their own. There were to be no dropped points in the second game of the week against Connecticut, though. Butler allowed the Huskies just two shots on target all game, and even if those had all gone in, it wouldn’t have mattered as Butler notched three goals on their way to a 3-0 win. Farrington played 90 minutes in the overtime draw with St. John’s, and followed up with a 64-minute outing against Connecticut as she maintains her position as an integral part of the Butler lineup. Unsurprisingly, given their form, Butler lead the Big East by a point at this stage, although St. John’s sit three points back with a game in hand.
Amy Sayer once again looked dangerous for Stanford as the Cardinal split a pair of home games against the Oregon schools. Although the radar was slightly off for the Matildas midfielder, Sayer was one of the biggest threats for Stanford, rattling off seven shots in 61 minutes. Although only one of those seven was on target, many of the others missed only narrowly. It was a similar story as Sayer rattled off another five shots in 47 minutes in a 2-1 win over Oregon later in the week. The woodwork once again proved Sayer’s nemesis whilst another was blocked. However, a player of Sayer’s quality seems unlikely to have the same accuracy issues for an extended period, which bodes well for Stanford and not quite as well for the Cardinal’s upcoming opponents.
Complete Results
Alabama State (Madison Chambers, Grace Norbury)
This week: defeated Texas Southern 1-0; lost to Prairie View A&M 4-1
Grace Norbury started both games for Alabama State this week, playing the full 90 minutes against Texas Southern and 69 minutes in the loss to Prairie View A&M. Madison Chambers remains out through injury.
Butler (Claire Farrington)
This week: drew with St. John’s 1-1; defeated Connecticut 3-0
Claire Farrington started both games for Butler this week, playing 90 of the 110 minutes against St. John’s and 64 minutes in the win over Connecticut.
Creighton (Ayana Aoyagi, Renée Pountney)
This week: lost to Marquette 1-0; lost to Xavier 2-0
Renee Pountney started for Creighton in their loss to Marquette, playing 52 minutes before coming off the bench to play 60 minutes in the loss to Xavier. Ayana Aoyagi did not feature for the Bluejays in either game this week.
DePaul (Katie Godden)
This week: lost to Georgetown 2-0; defeated Villanova 3-2
Katie Godden came off the bench for DePaul twice this week, registering a shot on target in 25 minutes against Georgetown and playing 31 minutes in the win over Villanova.
East Tennessee State (D’arne Boato)
This week: defeated Wofford 1-0; lost to Furman 3-1
D’arne Boato did not feature for East Tennessee State in either game this week.
Eastern Illinois (Ashleigh Harvie)
This week: lost to Tennessee-Martin 4-1; defeated Murray State 2-1
Ash Harvie did not feature for Eastern Illinois in either game this week.
Grand Canyon (Sandra Hill)
This week: defeated Cal Baptist 6-1; defeated Seattle 1-0 (OT)
Sandra Hill came off the bench to register a shot on target in 29 minutes against Cal Baptist, but did not feature for Grand Canyon against Seattle.
Hawaii (Eliza Ammendolia)
This week: lost to Cal Poly 2-1; drew with UC Santa Barbara 0-0
Eliza Ammendolia started both games for Hawaii this week, tallying a shot on target in 69 minutes against Cal Poly and playing 46 minutes against Santa Barbara.
Hofstra (Grace Watson-Carr)
This week: defeated James Madison 2-1
Grace Watson-Carr did not feature for Hofstra in their win over James Madison.
Illinois (Ashleigh Lefevre)
This week: lost to Northwestern 1-0; defeated Maryland 2-1
Ashleigh Lefevre came off the bench for Illinois in both games this week, playing 19 minutes against Northwestern before tallying her first college goal as part of a 51-minute outing against Maryland.
Illinois State (Indianna Asimus)
This week: lost to Northern Iowa 2-1
Indianna Asimus came off the bench for Illinois State in their loss to Northern Iowa, playing 29 minutes.
Incarnate Word (Madison McComasky)
This week: defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3-1; lost to Houston Baptist 2-1 (OT)
Madison McComasky played all 190 minutes of the weekend for Incarnate Word, scoring her first NCAA Division I goal in the win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
La Salle (Alyssa Van Heurck)
This week: defeated Rhode Island 1-0; lost to Richmond 2-0
Alyssa Van Heurck started both games for La Salle this week, tallying an assist on the only goal in a 90-minute outing against Rhode Island, before registering a shot in an 85-minute performance against Richmond.
Long Beach State (Aimee Medwin)
This week: drew with UC Riverside 0-0; defeated Cal State Fullerton 2-1
Aimee Medwin started both games for Long Beach State this week, playing 28 minutes in each fixture and tallying a shot in the win over Cal State Fullerton.
Louisiana Tech (Caitlin Le Roux)
This week: defeated UTEP 2-1; lost to Southeastern Louisiana 2-1
Caitlin Le Roux came off the bench to play 20 minutes against UTEP, before starting and playing 79 minutes for Louisiana Tech against Southeastern Louisiana.
Massachusetts (Hannah Peric)
This week: defeated George Washington 2-0; lost to VCU 2-1 (OT)
Hannah Peric did not feature for Massachusetts this week as the sophomore remains out through injury.
Oregon (Lara Kirkby)
This week: @ California – 9am, Friday October 1; @ Stanford – 7am, Monday October 4
San Francisco (Ashley Jordan)
This week: lost to Saint Mary’s 2-0
Ashley Jordan came off the bench for San Francisco in their loss to Saint Mary’s, playing a brief seven-minute cameo.
Stanford (Amy Sayer)
This week: lost to Oregon State 2-1; defeated Oregon 2-1
Amy Sayer started both games for Stanford this week, registering seven shots with one on target in 61 minutes against Oregon State before adding another five shots with one on target in 47 minutes against Oregon.
Tennessee-Martin (Kiarnie Latham)
This week: defeated Eastern Illinois 4-1; defeated Southeast Missouri State 4-1
Kiarnie Latham came off the bench for Tennessee-Martin in both games this week, playing 18 minutes against Eastern Illinois and 17 minutes against Southeast Missouri State.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Molly Arens)
This week: lost to Incarnate Word 3-1
Molly Arens did not feature for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in their loss to Incarnate Word.
UMBC (Isobel Davy, Annaliese Grove, Abi Jordan)
This week: lost to Binghamton 4-1; lost to UMass-Lowell 1-0
Isobel Davy played the full 90 minutes in their loss to Binghamton, making seven saves, but did not feature against UMass-Lowell. Conversely, Annie Grove did not feature against Binghamton, but came off the bench to play 8 minutes against UMass-Lowell. Abi Jordan did not feature in either game.
UNC Asheville (Jasmine Barry)
This week: lost to Charleston Southern 2-0
Jasmine Barry played a full 90 minutes for UNC Asheville in their loss to Charleston Southern.
USC (Talia Grossman, Isabel Rolley)
This week: defeated Arizona State 2-1; defeated Arizona 4-1
Isabel Rolley came off the bench for USC in both games this week, playing 44 minutes in the win over Arizona State and 47 minutes against Arizona.
VCU (Greta Kraszula)
This week: defeated Saint Louis 1-0; defeated Massachusetts 2-1 (OT)
Greta Kraszula did not feature for VCU in the win over Saint Louis, but came off the bench to play 80 minutes in the overtime win against Massachusetts.
Leave a Reply