The Dominican University women's soccer team closed out the 2015 regular season on Wednesday evening, topping the Benedictine University Eagles 2-1 behind a pair of goals by
Kelli Iovino (Arlington Heights, Ill.). With the win the Stars move to 12-5-0 overall and 9-1-0 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play to finish second in the NACC regular season standings and earn a first round bye in the 2015 NACC Tournament.
Iovino opened the scoring in the seventh minute when
Charlotte Wentzel's (Naperville, Ill.) service from the right-back slipped through to Iovino who created space with a turn and one-touch forward before firing a shot from 21 yards out that caught Benedictine's Maddie Frye off her line.
Benedictine leveled the score eight minutes later in the 15
th minute when Frye's goal kick connected with Taylor Pokorny who one-touched past Dominican's backline for a 1v1 with
Sara Stepanovich (Des Plaines, Ill.). Stepanovich raced off her line to cut down on Pokorny's angle but Pokorny poked a shot to the left of the Dominican goalkeeper to knot the game at 1-1.
Despite outshooting the Eagles 10-3 in the opening half, Dominican found itself tied 1-1 at halftime and through the first 25 minutes of the second half. It was not until the 70
th minute when Iovino was able to tally the game-winner collecting the rebound of
Alexis Mondragon's (Chicago, Ill.) shot that rattled the crossbar for Iovino to finish off for her 19
th goal of the season and eighth game-winner.
"We came out and established possession earl and created some opportunities but could only finish one," said
Carlos Carrillo, the Stars' second-year head coach. "In the second half we came out strong and gain created more opportunities, eventually scoring the game-winner. I'm happy to finish the regular season with a victory and hope we can carry that momentum into the conference tournament."
The Stars outshot Benedictine 19-5 for the match, putting ten shots on frame as compared to just four on goal for the Eagles.
Stepanovich, making her third consecutive start, logged three saves to move to 3-0-0 on the season.
The Stars will sit idle this weekend, preparing for the NACC Tournament semifinals on Wednesday, November 4, when they will host the highest remaining seed after the tournament semifinals on Sunday. Kickoff next Wednesday is slated for 1:00 p.m.