Monika Russell: Crown College St. Bonifacius, MN 2014
St. Bonifacius, Minn. – The Crown women's soccer team wrapped up their 2015 campaign with a heartbreaking overtime loss to Martin Luther, 1-0. The Storm battled the Knights and the elements as the entire game was played in a consistent downpour.
Both teams controlled the game at different points, with Crown's best spell coming in the middle of the second half when the team came close to creating dangerous chances on several occasions. Martin Luther was able to snuff out Crown's best chance as some emergency defending was needed to block a close range shot from Keisha Prafke.
Marissa Becerra was excellent in goal, making several smart saves in the second half and finishing the game with nine saves.
After 90 minutes, neither team could find the game winner and the two teams headed to overtime. Less than one minute into the first extra period, the Knights capitalized on a scrum in front of the net to get the golden goal and end Crown's season in the cruelest of fashions.
Crown finished 2015 with a 4-13-1 overall record.
Jenelle Flory: Dordt College Sioux Center, IA 2015
October 31, 2015
Dordt College is 11-6 overall and 6-4 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference entering the final match of the season. Dordt has secured a spot in the 8-team postseason playoff field for the conference tournament and can wrap up a home contest in the quarterfinal round of the tournament with a win or draw against the Flames.
Dordt has won back to back contests over Mount Marty and Nebraska Wesleyan by a combined 9-1 score after getting beat by Northwestern 2-0 on October 21. Two of Dordt’s losses have been by one goal each and another two are by two goals each.
Natalie Sakuma leads the team in goals and assists with 17 and seven respectively. Sakuma has played in 15 games this year and leads the team with 36 shots on goal. Kenzie Bousema has scored seven goals and Marissa LeDuc has five goals scored. Racquelle Mouw also has four goals scored for the Defenders as Dordt has outscored teams 42-29 and outshot teams on goal 164-101.
Dee Felts has played 1,554 minutes in goal and has a 1.68 goals allowed average and has made 70 saves.
Dordt will qualify for the postseason tournament which opens on Thursday, November 5 while the College of Saint Mary is involved in a four-way fight for the last three spots in the field.
