Less than a week after winning their first ever OAC title, Capital Women’s Soccer traveled to Wheaton, Illinois last Friday and made some noise in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Round one matched the Crusaders (13-7-2) with Alma (Mich.) College (18-4-1) and the storyline would prove to reflect the team’s recent hot streak as they jumped out to an early lead in the 20th minute.
Senior Kaylee Phillips found classmate Natalie Fiorelli who would put it past the Alma goaltender from 10 yards out; giving Fiorelli her ninth goal of the season and Phillips her eighth assist.
From then on, Capital’s defense stole the show. Sophomore keeper Maggie Donnellan and the Crusader defense fended off 14 shots that included eight shots on goal. The shutout was Donnellan’s eighth shutout of the season, her first since ousting Otterbein in the OAC semi-finals.
With the win (1-0), the Crusaders etched their name into the history books by being the first team in program history to take home a win in the NCAA tournament.
“Our win in the OAC Championship earned us the right to compete with the best teams in the country,” Head Chris Kouns addressed the win.
“After winning against Alma, we earned the confidence that we can, not only compete but, win against the best teams in the country. This win was a great step towards our programs ultimate goal of winning a national championship.”
Coach Kouns wasn’t the only person to take note of the win. NCAA.org featured Capital on its DIII home page following the win with the headline “Run continues for surprising Capital.”
“As a team we were all fighting for the win. We wanted to be the team that started something new, and we did,” Senior Natalie Fiorelli had to say about the game, “It feels like we came and accomplished something great.”
The next day, Capital would fall to host Wheaton College (20-1-2), who was ranked #6 in the nation, 3-0.
“Looking back on the season,” Coach Kouns said, “I would like to commend the seniors for overcoming all the recent coaching changes and bringing this team together to help us to achieve all that we’ve accomplished. Looking ahead, we will use this experience to work even harder in the years to come. We will use this success as a benchmark of expectations in the years to come.”
