WHEATON, Ill. – The deepest run ever by a Carleton team into the NCAA Championships ended as the women’s soccer team lost, 2-1, to two-time defending champ Wheaton College in the NCAA Sectional Finals (Elite Eight). The Knights’ (18-6) memorable season included a team-record victory total and the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
“We’re incredibly proud of what this team has done this year,” said Carleton head coach Keren Gudeman. “We earned a spot in the tournament and played better than a lot of people probably thought we would. We surpassed our own expectations from the beginning of the season, and our senior leadership was fantastic.”
Both teams played very aggressively and battled the full 90 minutes, combining for 25 shots and creating numerous scoring chances.
After a fast start by the Thunder, play settled down some, and it appeared that the contest might be scoreless headed into intermission. Wheaton (21-3-2), though was awarded a penalty kick at 39:28 and defending NSCAA Division III Player-of-the-Year Taryne Lee converted the opportunity for her 29th goal of the season.
Despite trailing at the half, the Knights started the second half with renewed energy and maintained their composure even after Ali Kopelman added what became a necessary insurance goal in the 53rd minute.
As the match progressed, Carleton began to find better and better scoring opportunities. Following a corner kick, Sophie Wood (Sr./Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) got the Knights on the board with a goal in the 88th minute. Carleton, though, was unable to tally the equalizer during the frantic final minutes.
Kate Trenerry (So./Rochester, Minn./Century) had four saves for Carleton which yielded its first goals of the postseason.
“We gave it all we could,” said Gudeman. “I have to give credit to Wheaton. They are the best team we faced all season. They are deep and have very skilled individual players. We defended and limited their dangerous opportunities, but we weren’t able to capitalize on our counter attack chances. You learn a lot from playing teams of this caliber.”
Carleton played No. 22 Wheaton twice this season, falling 2-0 in early September when the Thunder were ranked No. 1 in the nation and tonight.
This match concluded the playing career of four Carleton seniors: Nicky Bloom (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township); Yusi He (South Pasadena, Calif./South Pasadena); Melley Turner (St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Academy) and Wood.
