Contact: Emily Zadny, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

Box Score

Sept. 27, 2017 – Securing a much-needed win to carry momentum into the weekend's College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play, the North Central College women's soccer team defeated Benedictine University 1-0 on Wednesday under the lights at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.

It didn't take long for the Cardinals to get things started on offense. Taylor Piggott took a corner kick in the seventh-minute, connecting with Lexi Dimovski in front of the goal. Dimovski did what she does best and put the ball in the back of the net and the Cardinals on the board.

For the remainder of the half, North Central kept the ball at their end of the field, making it difficult for the Eagles to make a run.

When the ball was on their end, Benedictine struggled to take a shot as Gretchen Frantz held steady in goal, thanks to solid protection and timely plays from Rachel Kolling, Emily Gaither, Alivia Siudak, and Allyson Viederis to get the ball back to their teammates.

In the second half, both teams made every effort to deny their opponents any scoring opportunities as the Eagles managed one shot and the Cardinals took three. With both team unable to convert in the final half, North Central held onto its one goal lead and came away with the win after 90 minutes.

North Central outshot its opponents 17 to five, taking 14 shots in the first half alone. Benedictine goalkeeper recorded nine saves against the Cardinals' pounding offense.

Dimovski led all players with one goal and nine shots, while Piggott had four shots and Catherine Kent had two. Frantz recorded three saves and her first shutout of the season.

"Benedictine has a sturdy defense and will make teams earn their goals," said head coach Andrew Gamarra. "This was our first game where we played for a full 90-minutes. Right now, we are coming together at the right time and I am excited for our team and the progress we've made over this short period of time. This was good for our defense and Gretchen to get a shutout."

At the end of the night, regardless of the outcome, both teams came together to support the fight against childhood cancer, collecting donations for a local child fighting her own fight of the terrible disease. The teams collected donations for the Ciamarra family to help with medical bills for their daughter Anna's treatment.

The Cardinals (4-4-1) travel to Kenosha, Wis. on Saturday, Sept. 30 to battle College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) foe Carthage College to kick off conference play. Game time is set for 5 P.M and a link to live in-game coverage can be found HERE.