by Eric Willuweit

Lisle, Ill. – As was the case in last Saturday's draw with Concordia Wisconsin, the Illinois Tech women's soccer team turned in another dominating performance Wednesday night at Benedictine University. This time, however, the Scarlet Hawks were able to translate their on-field performance into a dominating win, defeating the host Eagles 4-0. With the victory, the Scarlet Hawks improved to 3-1-1 in NACC play, and 8-2-1 overall. The Eagles fell to 0-3-2 in conference play, and 1-7-2 overall.

How It Happened

• The Scarlet Hawks opened the scoring at the 2:41 mark in the first half. Kayla Smith intercepted a Benedictine pass in the Hawks defensive zone and pushed it up field to Allison Murray. Murray passed the ball to Amelia Moseman along the near sideline. Moseman eluded two defenders and cut towards the inside, feeding Kenzie Tokuchi. Tokuchi faked a give-back to Moseman, and instead cut to the inside, delivering a through ball to Nicole Fajardo, who fired it into the right corner for the 1-0 lead.
• The Hawks extended their lead just over 11 minutes into the second half. Moseman fed Tokuchi towards the far sideline. Tokuchi again faked to her right, then shifted to her left and fired a left-footer from 20 yards out that beat Benedictine goalkeeper Katherine Prochnow to the top far corner for the 2-0 lead.
• A little over three minutes later, the Scarlet Hawks struck again. Smith intercepted a Benedictine clearing pass 40 yards out, raced down the right side, eluded two defenders and cut inside and put her shot from 12 yards out high middle over the hands of Prochnow, giving the Hawks a 3-0 advantage.
• With just over eight minutes remaining in the match, Jillian Oligschlaeger intercepted an Eagles throw-in along the near sideline with a header pass to Ayden Greene to start a Scarlet Hawks break. Greene fed Laura Rios at midfield and Rios returned the ball to Greene on the give-and-go fifty yards out. Greene passed inside to Lucy Vanveldhuisen, who had pulled back from two defenders to create space and fired a left-footer 23 yards out inside the right post for the 4-0 final score.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Tokuchi with a goal and an assist. Tokuchi has 7 goals on the season and has 9 points over her last three matches.
• Fajardo's goal was her fourth over her last three matches.
• Smith's goal gave her 6 points over her last three games.
• The Scarlet Hawks team overall from a defense and ball control standpoint, limiting the Eagles to just 3 total shots.

Inside The Box Score

• The Scarlet Hawks outshot the Eagles 20 to 3.
• Illinois Tech held a 9-1 advantage in shots on goal.
• Fouls were event at 5 each.
• The Scarlet Hawks led in corner kick opportunities 7-2.

Up Next

The Scarlet Hawks continue road play this Saturday, when they head to Fond du Lac, Wis. to take on the Marian Sabres (2-2-1 NACC) at 3:30pm in a conference matchup.