The 15th-ranked DCTC Blue Knight women’s soccer squad, coming off an impressive 11-1 victory last Friday, is busy this week preparing for the Region XIII Championship game vs. Bethany Lutheran College.
The 14-4 Blue Knights have home-field advantage in their first-ever playoff game, which comes following the team’s inaugural season. The game is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 1 at 5 p.m. at Johnny Cake Ridge Park in Apple Valley.
Last Friday’s match against Northern Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) was the team’s largest margin of victory in its 18-game history. Scorers included Becca Noonan (2 goals, 3 assists), Rachel Jones (1 goal, 2 assists), Sheena Lien (2 goals, 3 assists), and Hillary Keefer (2 goals, 2 assists). In addition, Vanessa Schulte, Inna Brutsky, Heidi Timm, and Gina Heggelman scored once each in the contest.
Mandy Stockton shut out NIACC in the first half, while Nicki Moulzoff saw her first minutes as goalkeeper, playing the second half, yielding only one goal.
For the season, the Blue Knights were competitive in every game, and many individual players rank nationally for their efforts.
Jones cracked the national top 50 following Saturday’s match with 12 goals and 3 assists; Noonan ranked 18th with 19 goals and 13 assists; Lien ranked 32nd with 9 goals and 22 assists; Keefer moved up to 38th with 11 goals and 10 assists; and Stockton ranked 18th in the nation for goalkeepers with 22 goals against, 155 saves, and a 1.294 goals-against average.
The winner of Saturday’s playoff moves on to play the winner of this week’s Schoolcraft (Mich.) and Cincinnati State Technical match. This District B semi-final showdown will be played in Illinois on Nov. 7.
