River Forest, Ill. – The Dominican University women's soccer team is looking towards their home opener against Illinois Wesleyan University after a 2-0-0 start at the Wheaton College Tournament.
Series History vs. Illinois Wesleyan:
All-Time Record /Streak/: 1-3-1 /W1
-The first time these two schools played was on October 11
th, 2008. The match was played in Bloomington, IL, and the Titans won 1-0.
-IWU won the first three matches in this series and did not give up a goal in those three matches.
-DU won the latest matchup at Illinois Wesleyan, to the score of 1-0, behind the stellar performance of Junior
Gianna Stanek, who captured 9 saves in the shutout win.
-The Stars are 0-1 at West Campus Field against the Titans.
-DUWSOC have scored 4 goals in the 5 matchups against IWU.
DU in Review:
-Dominican women's soccer went 2-0-0 in the Wheaton College Tournament and did not give up a goal. The Stars scored 6 goals in their two matches in the tournament.
-Last season the Stars went 12-6-1 overall on the season while holding a 9-3 conference record.
-DU did not play a neutral site match last season but did go 6-4 on the road.
-Dominican's season came to an end in the NACC conference tournament semifinals when they matched up with Illinois Tech.
-The Stars held a 6-match win streak last season from the dates of September 20
th to October 11
th.
Familiar Faces:
-Graduate Student
Sierra Rioux is back in a Stars uniform and is ready to be a verteran impact on this young DU squad. Rioux comes back after an incredible senior season. The Naperville native scored 4 goals and earned 6 assists in her 19 games started last season. She also recorded 42 shots, with 19 of those on target.
-Senior
Meghan Wilhite will be back on the pitch this season after a 7-goal junior season that included a hat-trick at Wisconsin Lutheran. Wilhite also collected 2 assists and 36 shots, with 16 of those on target. The Las Vegas native played in 18 matches, while starting in 6.
-Senior
Mackenzie Cuddihy has been a staple on the back line of the Stars and will continue that role in her senior campaign. Cuddihy last year found the back of the net twice, including a bar-down shot from 40 yards out on homecoming last season. Mackenize played in 1420 minutes last season.
-Junior
Ariana Barney is ready to continue her success in a Stars uniform this upcoming season. Barney battled through some injuries in her sophomore year but still played in 15 matches with 2 assists and 5 shots on goal.
-Junior
Tia Garr has been a force in the midfield in her first two years and is looking to continue that success in year three. Garr is coming off a season where she played 19 matches and started 18 of those. Garr scored 2 goals on 26 shots, with 15 shots being on target.
-Sophomore
MK Kluesner had a great freshman year and is ready to continue to grow on the back line for Dominican. Kluesner started in 18 matches last season with 1541 minutes while earning an assist.
-Junior
Gianna Stanek will be back in net this upcoming season after her first season with DU. Stanek played in 15 matches and started in 14 of those matches. Stanek recorded 66 saves on the year and held a 9-6 record between the posts. Gianna had four matches last season where she made over 6 saves, including a 9-save match against Illinois Wesleyan that led DU to a 1-0 victory on the road.
Last Time Out:
-Dominican Women's Soccer won 5-0 in the first match over Greenville University.
-Freshman
Grace Durante was the Star of the Match, where she scored her first collegiate goal on 5 shots, and 3 of those on the target. Durante started the match and played in 48 minutes.
-Junior
Tia Garr continued right where she left off in the midfield, scoring a goal on 4 shots, with 2 of those on the target.
-Junior
Ariana Barney collected an assist with both of her shots being on the target.
-Senior
Mackenzie Cuddihy scored on her only shot of the match.
-Freshman
Renna Gravenhof scored her first collegiate goal on her first collegiate shot.
-Freshman
Claire Nelson picked up her first collegiate assist in her 30 minutes of action.
-Freshman
Azara Waite earned her first collegiate goal on her first collegiate shot.
-Senior
Meghan Wilhite had 4 shots on target, with one of those being on the target.
-In the second match the Stars won 1-0 over Wheaton College.
-Senior
Rachelle Pinto earned Star of the Match, where she scored the only goal of the game. Pinto had 4 shots, with two on target.
-Sophomore
MK Kluesner had 1 shot with one on target and played all 90 minutes.
-Freshman
Claire Nelson showed out, registering 1 shot and one on target.
-Junior
Gianna Stanek was a wall with 2 saves.
Scouting Report:
-Illinois Wesleyan is 0-0-2 to start the season with both matches being on the road. Simpson and IWU tied 1-1, and Kalamazoo and Illinois Wesleyan tied 0-0.
-Last season the Titans finished the season with a 9-7-3 overall record and a 4-3-1 conference inside the CCIW.
-Illinois Wesleyan was 6-2-1 on the road last season.
-The Titans season came to an end in the quarterfinal match against Wheaton in the CCIW conference tournament. The match finished 1-1, with Thunder winning in penalties.
-IWU scored 37 goals last season, with a 1.95 goals per game average. They gave up 35 goals as a team.
-Illinois Wesleyan collected 326 shots last season, with 172 of those shots on the target.
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