Falcons blast Bluejays in regular season finale
MEQUON, Wis. – The Falcons continued their winning ways as they head into postseason play with a convincing 5-0 victory over Elmhurst on Tuesday afternoon. The Blue and White finish the regular season with a 15-4-0 record. The 15 victories ties the program record.
"Today we had another great team performance to cap off a great regular season," said head coach Ryan Middendorf. "I need to talk about how strong of a defensive performance we had today. Our defense remained strong all game and did not allow a quality side to find the back of our net. This should provide significant momentum going into our conference tournament."
CUW flexed its muscles on defense on Wednesday, with its second-straight shutout.
Freshman Karoline Haugland (Bergen, Norway) scored the first of her four goals in the sixth minute as she split a pair of defenders off a pass from sophomore Isabel Downs (Menomonee Falls, Wis.).
Haugland did the exact same thing in the 36th minute to put the Falcons up 2-0 at halftime.
The freshman from Norway secured the hat trick with a goal on a breakaway as she dribbled past defenders in the 81st minute.
Junior Alexandra Tomich (Mission Viejo, Calif.) put away a penalty kick in the 85th minute.
Haugland closed the scoring with a shot off a rebound from junior Allison McElwee (Laramie, Wyo.).
Karoline Haugland has scored a goal in the last five matches and reached the four-goal mark for the second time this season.
Junior Kaeley Sterkel (Dana Point, Calif.) showed why she is the reigning NACC Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week with eight saves.
The Falcons held a commanding 28-15 shots advantage on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the Falcons will find out their spot in the NACC Tournament. They have secured the first-round bye, but can clinch the top seed and a share of the NACC crown if Aurora defeats Dominican. MSOE and Illinois Tech will host first-round matches, but their seeds are not determined. Aurora is the fifth seed and Benedictine, Marian and Concordia Chicago are all fighting for the final spot.
