(Sugar Grove, IL) – In a must win game to keep their hopes alive for winning another Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) title, Waubonsee Community College's women's soccer team held on for a 1-0 victory over Elgin Community College on Wednesday afternoon. The win was the 150th career coaching victory for Chiefs' head coach Brad Schlemmer and sets up a showdown for the ISCC title next week at the College of Lake County. The Chiefs (8-5, 4-1) need a win over the Lancers (6-4-1, 3-0-1) to capture the program's fifth consecutive ISCC title. With the win over Elgin Waubonsee has now gone 22-3 in conference play the last five seasons.
In the opening minutes the Chiefs controlled much of the action, but it was the Spartans (7-6, 2-4) that almost scored first. In the 12th minute Elgin's leading scorer Peyton Kohn got a pass in front of the net. However, Chiefs keeper Luz Espino made a phenomenal diving stop to keep the game scoreless. Waubonsee continued to pepper the Spartans' net and finally broke through in the 34th minutes when a foul on Elgin gave the Chiefs a free kick from 40 yards away. Ana Morales then proceeded to blast a long range shot that knuckled and curved, improbably nestling into the upper left corner of the net just out of the reach of Spartans' keeper Sabrina Ramos. A minute later the Spartans narrowly knotted the score but again Espino made a nice stop of a breakaway shot by Julissa Ortiz. The half ended with the Chiefs holding that slim 1-0 lead.
Looking to add a huge insurance goal the Chiefs' Abby Broadway fired a shot that went just wide left of the far post in the opening minute of the second half. Ten minutes later Broadway had another golden opportunity after dribbling through and around a trio of Elgin defenders. But her point blank shot was knocked down and corralled by Delaney Schulz, who had gone into net for the Spartans to start the second half. Two minutes later Espino again made a diving stop to thwart Kohn, lunging to her left to snag a shot from 15 yards out. The score was still 1-0 in the 75th minute when Espino snagged another Elgin shot on goal off a free kick from 25 yard out.
Espino made another save three minutes later as the Chiefs tried to hang on. A foul on Waubonsee gave Elgin a free kick from 30 yards out in the 81st minute. Once again, the Chiefs' defense of Katelyn Curtis, Josie Rader, Samantha Esquivel and MJ Ceron turned back the Spartans' attack. As the clock wound down the Spartans had one final push in the final minute, but Ceron stole the ball allowing the Chiefs to run the clock out.
For the match Waubonsee outshot the Spartans 14-9 with a slim 6-5 advantage in shots on goal. Espino came up big with five saves to register the shutout, her fifth of the season. In the process she kept Kohn, tied for ninth nationally in goals scored among all NJCAA Division II players with 15, off the board for just the second time in the last three weeks. Waubonsee is set to play the College of Lake County a week from now on Wednesday, October 16 in north suburban Grayslake. The match for the ISCC title is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.
