TERRE HAUTE, IND. -- The Rose-Hulman Institute
of Technology women's soccer team earned its first Heartland
Collegiate Athletic Conference title with a 1-0 victory over
Transylvania University at Jim Rendel Field on Saturday
afternoon.
The win marks the first time
in school history that a Rose-Hulman women’s athletic team or a
Rose-Hulman soccer team has advanced to the NCAA Division III
Tournament. The conference title is also the first for a
Rose-Hulman team since the Engineer men’s basketball squad
captured the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
championship in 1999.
The lone Engineer goal came
in the 70th minute when freshman Molly Richardson (Orange
Park, Fla.) found the back of the net on a double assist by
seniors Sarah Graber (Cyprus, Texas) and
Jennifer Gordon (Zionsville, Ind.). The goal occurred after
the ball deflected off a defender off the foot of Gordon and
Graber one touched it on to Richardson, who finished from the
inside the box.
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Jennifer Gordon recorded her 26th
assist of the season on Rose-Hulman's second-half goal. |
Senior Rachel Miller
(Spring, Texas) earned her sixth shutout of the season to
preserve the Engineer win, tallying five saves on the afternoon.
Transylvania senior Ally Tucker kept the Pioneers within
striking distance with five saves.
Offensively, Richardson,
senior Julie Roebel (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton) and junior
Liz
Ridgway (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Northwestern University) paced the
Engineers with two shots each. Katie Kelly led the
Transylvania offense with three shots.
The victory improves
Rose-Hulman to 19-2 on the season. The Engineers return to
action in the NCAA Tournament next week. The bracket will
be released Monday around 10:00.