ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst women's soccer team punched its ticket to the CCIW Tournament for the first time since the 2014 season by scoring a 5-0 win over North Park University at Langhorst Field.
Sidney O'Keeffe scored twice in the first half as Elmhurst (10-5-1/4-4 CCIW) cruised to the victory and in the process, into the CCIW Tournament for the first time in three years.
Elmhurst entered the day needing three things to happen to earn a trip to the CCIW Tournament; a win over North Park, an Illinois Wesleyan win over North Central and Carthage to defeat or tie Augustana. Illinois Wesleyan came through to start the day, defeating North Central 2-0. Midway through the second half of the Bluejays' contest, Carthage downed Augustana 2-1 on a late goal. The Bluejays' win over North Park (6-11-1/0-7-1 CCIW) was the final piece of the puzzle, allowing Elmhurst to tie North Central for fourth place in the conference standings. The Bluejays earned the tiebreaker over North Central by virtue of their head-to-head win over the Cardinals.
O'Keeffe started the scoring for in the 19th minute. A
Kennedy Irmen free kick went over North Park's defenders and took a high hop to O'Keeffe. O'Keeffe headed the ball past North Park Keeper Sydney Martinez to give Elmhurst a 1-0 lead.
Less than two minutes later, the Vikings were called for a handball in the box.
Brittany Reinhart scored on the penalty kick to give Elmhurst a 2-0 lead. O'Keeffe netted her second goal of the game six minutes later to give Elmhurst a 3-0 lead before the half.
Kim Stanczak touched a pass to
Marri Gragnani and Gragnani flipped it ahead to O'Keeffe. O'Keeffe tucked the shot inside the far post to give Elmhurst a three-goal cushion at the intermission.
Unassisted goals from
Jami Lessila and
Brittany Reinhart in the second half padded the Bluejays' lead up to five to give the Bluejays the victory.
Elmhurst outshot North Park 15-13 in the win and also held a 10-8 shots on goal advantage.
Bryce Marchetti made the start in in goal and recorded her third shutout of the season. Marchetti stopped all eight shots she faced in net.
Elmhurst will play at Wheaton College on Wednesday, November 1, in the first round of the CCIW Tournament.
