NAPERVILLE, Ill. – In a battle of unbeaten teams and red-shaded bird mascots, the North Central College Cardinals (3-0) bested the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks (2-1) on Wednesday evening. The defeat snapped a two-match winning and shout out streak for Tech women's soccer despite jumping out to an early lead in the contest.

How it Happened

• The Scarlet Hawks survived three early corner kicks and three early shots from the Cardinals, one of which was on net and saved by Emily Garza.
• In the 12th minute, a North Central yellow card prompted a penalty kick, which Elena Esparcia Cañada knocked in for a 1-0 Scarlet Hawk advantage.
• However, the Cardinals would flip the script just over two minutes later, as Allyson Viederis scored for NCC in the 15th minute to tie the score.
• Over the next 20 minutes, the teams would trade shot opportunities, with both starting keepers making several saves. In the 37th minute, however, Kily Egan scored for North Central off a Sam Schutte assist to put the hosts ahead heading to halftime.
• Once again, the teams traded chances to start the second half. Also repeating itself was North Central finding a way to break through for a goal. This time, Kyra Ripoli scored from a Kaitlyn Cannon assist to go up two in the 67th minute.
• Offensive chances were limited the rest of the way, with only one shot on goal being recorded for both teams. For Tech, Caeli Kennedy had a shot saved by Madison Lockard. For the Cardinals, Egan was able to score her second goal of the day. This one came from Cannon, who added her second assist. The 88th minute goal was the final tally of the contest.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Esparcia Cañada led the team with five shots and scored the only goal. She also had two shots on net.
• Emily Dashiell's shots were efficient, with all four of them being on net.
• Kennedy and Jamie Griggs each had a shot on goal.

Stats to Know

• North Central outshot the Scarlet Hawks by eight (18-12).
• The Cardinals committed 14 fouls compared to just six for Tech.
• Egan (two goals) and Cannon (two assists) were the key contributors for North Central.

Up Next

• The Scarlet Hawks will host two matches this weekend, the first of which coming on Saturday against Lake Forest College at 1:00 p.m. Live audio and video will be available for the contest, with the live audio being powered by Illinois Media School.