Horizon League Semifinals - Loyola
Friday was just our second game in almost three weeks, and we were ready to play. Not only was it our first conference tournament game, but it was against Loyola—a team we typically have a hard-fought battle against for 90 minutes. Both teams came out with high energy, but we were able to stay focused and control the play of the game and finally squeaked a goal in the 25th minute by Kenzie (Gillaspie). We knew it wouldn’t be enough to deflate Loyola’s energy. We went into halftime knowing they were capable of coming back and causing chaos. We came out at halftime and just had intense ball pressure. Apple (Hagen) finally found the back of the net in the 75th minute from Laurel (Ragalie). We were able to keep them away from our goal… only giving four shots for the whole game.
Horizon League Championship - Valparaiso
The league championship game was Sunday and we were ready to make history being the first number one seed to win the championship (since the top seed was awarded hosting rights). It was a really nice Sunday afternoon and just being around the team you could tell everyone was ready to go. It didn’t take long for Apple to score her first of four goals, within the first 10 minutes. Which, last time we played Valpo she also had four goals! She scored again in the 13th, 25th and 58th minutes. Apple got MVP of the tournament again for the second year in a row. Forbes, Kenzie, Megna, and myself made the all-tournament team. I think we have really grown as a team, and we are ready for the first round of the NCAA tournament. We find out who and where we play on Monday. We will be at Harry’s Bar and Grill and we will be our gold travel tops!
