BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - An offensive outburst fueled the Illinois Wesleyan University women's soccer team to a convincing 8-nil victory over Carthage College in its regular season finale Saturday, Oct. 30. The Titans used its highest scoring performance since 2014 to claim a share of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Regular Season Championship as IWU finished the regular season with a 9-7-1 overall record and 7-1 conference mark. It is IWU's first regular season title since 2016.
Illinois Wesleyan was all over Carthage (5-12, 3-5 CCIW) from the get-go, as the Titans went up by two goals less than 10 minutes into the match. Junior Lauren Shanks (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) found the back of the net for the seventh time this season just over two minutes in. A little over five minutes later, Shanks provided the helper for senior
Izzy Mitra's (Normal, Ill.-Normal Community) goal to double IWU's lead to 2-0.
Mitra notched her second goal of the game in the 18th minute, this time on assists from Shanks and junior Jenna Li (Haslett, Mich.-Lansing Christian School). Shanks then added another goal of her own one minute later.
Junior Riley Haug (Elmhurst, Ill.-York Community) and senior
Heather Dietrich (Geneseo, Ill.-Geneseo) added to the first-half barrage with goals less than a minute apart to put Illinois Wesleyan in front 6-0 at halftime. Freshman
Maddy Koppe (Skokie, Ill.-Niles North) picked up her first career assist on Haug's first career goal.
Senior Caelyn Steffens (Normal, Ill.-Normal Community) joined the goal party with her team-leading 12th of the year in the 62nd minute on an assist from freshman
Tegan Timerman (Peoria, Ill.-Peoria Notre Dame). Dietrich closed out the scoring with her second goal of the day in the 76th-minute.
Illinois Wesleyan tallied 25 shots (15 on goal) to Carthage's 12 (eight on target), with 12 in the first half and 11 in the second half. Freshman Kayla Borg (McHenry, Ill.-Cary Grove) and senior
Maria Fields (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) combined for the shutout, with Borg making two first-half saves and Fields adding six second-half stops.
With the regular season complete, Illinois Wesleyan turns its attention to the CCIW Tournament. The Titans, who will be the No. 2 seed in the four-team tourney, will host third-seeded North Central Wednesday night, Nov. 3, for a 7 p.m. start.
