Preview: Non-Conference Finale Set For Tuesday

 

EUREKA, Ill. -- The Eureka College women's soccer team will play its fifth and final non-conference match of the 2017 season on Tuesday when the Red Devils head north for a 3 p.m. contest at NCAA Division III independent Mount Mary in Milwaukee, Wis.

 

Eureka senior Jamie Hedges tallied the Red Devils' first-ever goal at McKinzie Field on an assist from junior Mecayela Monroe in the 38th minute, but visiting Lincoln Christian earned a 9-1 non-conference victory over EC last Thursday night.

 

The visitors got all the offense they would need in the first 14 minutes of the match. Abigail Crockett put LCU on the board with a tally at 2:11, followed by the match-winner from Rebekah Moore in the 14th minute. Crockett and Mikayla Greene pushed the lead to 4-0 with first-half strikes before Monroe's through-ball found Hedges on a run up the middle. Hedges finished her shot just inside the left post for her second career goal and the Red Devils' first goal of the 2017 season.

 

The Red Lions carried the 4-1 lead into halftime. Monroe nearly inched the Red Devils closer just 54 seconds into the second half, but LCU goalkeeper Mikayla Smith stopped Monroe's breakaway shot to keep the EC deficit at three. Lincoln Christian responded with its fifth goal in the 49th minute, sparking a five-goal outburst in the second half.

 

LCU outshot the Red Devils, 33-12. Sarah Domkowski and Sunshine Nowak-Wollf combined for 10 saves.

 

Eureka took its second out-of-state road trip of the 2017 season last Sunday, dropping a 14-0 non-conference decision at USCAA St. Mary-of-the-Woods.

 

A scholarship program based outside Terre Haute, Ind., the Pomeroys got the match-winning goal from Hannah Miller in the 10th minute. Nowak-Wolff made nine saves for the Red Devils on Sunday.

 

Mount Mary will bring a 1-3-1 record into Tuesday's match against the Red Devils. The Blue Angels earned their lone victory of the campaign in a 3-2 triumph over Crown on Sept. 2, but have lost bouts to North Central (Minn.), SLIAC member Iowa Wesleyan and Lakeland. MMU and Finlandia played to a 1-1 draw last Saturday in Hancock, Mich.

 

Jon Gulrajani is the Blue Angels' head coach. He owns a 12-27-1 record since his arrival prior to the 2015 season.

 

Eureka and Mount Mary have met in women's soccer in each of the previous four seasons. The Blue Angels have won three of those matchups, including a 5-1 decision last September at Traister Field. EC and MMU have split two bouts in Milwaukee -- Mount Mary won 5-1 in 2014 and Eureka won 3-2 in 2015.

 

Mount Mary is one of an approximate dozen NCAA Division III member schools to compete as an independent. MMU is a private university founded in 1913 and sponsored by the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Undergraduate programs open to women only, but graduate programs are coed.