The Malone University women's soccer team clinched the #8 seed in the GLIAC Tournament after beating rival Walsh University by the final score of 1-0 on Friday afternoon at Pioneer Field.

Malone will make its first-ever GLIAC Tournament appearance on Tuesday, November 3^rd at top-seeded Grand Valley State University (MI) in a 7:00 p.m. match-up.

It was a cold, muddy, and cloudy day for the rivalry match-up, but that did not stop the two teams from battling it out. The first 45 minutes of the game consisted of hard-fought possessions to the ball and toughness from the Pioneers as much of the first half was played at the Cavaliers' end.  

Even though the Pioneers played aggressive in the first half, they were not able to notch a goal, making it a 0-0 standstill at the half.

The Pioneers were the first team to shoot at the net in the second half, but no one was able to connect until the 56:07 marker when defender Kaela Kovanda drilled a shot from 30-yards out off a free kick that hit the top of the crossbar and bounced in to give Malone the 1-0 lead with 34 minutes left in regulation.   

The GLIAC Tournament berth was on the line for both teams and Walsh was not about to go away.

During the last ten minutes of the game, the Cavaliers had 10 shot attempts and were close on a few occasions, but the Pioneers' defense played spectacular and did not allow a shot to go in, giving Malone the 1-0 victory.

Today we honored four seniors at halftime for Senior Day: Ashley Fleming, Amanda Najjar, Leah Arnold and Natalie Rostedt.


 
Game Notes:
-Kaela Kovanda tallied her second goal on the season.
-Leah Rauscher collected nine saves on the game to increase her season total to 118. This was her third shutout of the season.
-This is the first time since 2010 that Malone has won seven games in a season.