EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer clinched a berth into the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Soccer Championship Tournament Sunday following a 2-0 home win in the regular season finale against Eastern Illinois University.
The Screaming Eagles’ seniors led the way for USI toward the 2-0 victory, as well as some timely plays by the defensive unit. USI made history Sunday, getting into the OVC Tournament field in their first season as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference and first year as an NCAA Division I program.
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The Screaming Eagles started the match with a high level of energy in the attacking half. USI applied tight pressure on Eastern Illinois’ defense through the attacking front of the lineup. The early pressure resulted in three shots for the Screaming Eagles within the first 15 minutes.
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Midway into the first half, the Panthers started to find their footing in the attacking half and gain some control of the possession. Both teams had to deal with strong wind gusts throughout the afternoon. The wind gusts affected most of the passes played into the air.
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The Screaming Eagles found the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead in the 39th minute. Coming off a long throw-in in the attacking third, graduate student defender Elizabeth Lippert (Lexington, Kentucky) tapped the ball back toward the top of the box, and senior defender Madison Crawford (O’Fallon, Missouri) struck the ball with a one-time touch into the lower right corner of the goal. For Crawford, it was her first goal of the season and the second of her career.
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USI’s 1-0 advantage carried into halftime, where Southern Indiana outshot Eastern Illinois 6-1 at the break. USI had three shots on goal in the first half to go along with three corner kicks.
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The offensive momentum continued for USI early in the second half. Senior midfielder Jill DiTusa (St. Charles, Illinois) swung the ball in from the wide right and scored USI’s second goal of the match in the 49th minute. The goal was DiTusa’s second of the season and the 16th of her career. With 16 career goals, DiTusa moved into a tie for 11th all-time in USI history. Additionally, the two points from the goal moved DiTusa into sole possession of 13th all-time in the USI record books for career points with 37 points.
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The Panthers kept fighting in the match, as Eastern Illinois had two good chances on the same possession with 16 minutes remaining in the contest. Eastern Illinois made a run from the left side of the box and crossed it toward the near post, where USI’s graduate student defender Mia Rose Daly (Haiku, Hawaii) cleared the ball from the post. Shortly after, the Panthers continued their aggression in the attacking half with a chance in the box. Just as it seemed that the ball was going to cross the goal line, sophomore defender Maggie Duggan (Defiance, Missouri) kicked the ball away from the goal line and kept USI’s 2-0 lead intact.
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The Screaming Eagles and the defense held strong the rest of the way for the 2-0 win, halting any pushback from the Eastern Illinois attack in the late minutes.
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In the match, USI outshot EIU 8-5 and 5-3 in shots on goal. Eastern Illinois had four corner kicks and USI had three.
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Crawford and DiTusa tallied the two goals for USI, as DiTusa led USI on the day with two shots. Lippert had an assist with the goal by Crawford. In goal, senior goalkeeper Maya Etienne (Midland, Michigan) made three saves.
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With the win, USI secured a berth into the Ohio Valley Conference Soccer Championship Tournament, starting with an opening-round matchup Friday at 4 p.m. The Screaming Eagles will take on familiar foe Lindenwood University from the campus of Southeast Missouri State University, who will host the 8-seed versus 5-seed on Friday and take on the winner next Sunday. Lindenwood finished fifth in the OVC standings and tied USI 1-1 in their regular season meeting in mid-October.
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Matches in the opening weekend of the OVC Championship Tournament will air live on ESPN+.
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