IWU women’s soccer opens season with wins over Rio Grande and IU East

On Friday evening, the IWU Wildcats women’s soccer team got off to a tremendous start, as five different Wildcats scored in a 7-0 victory over Rio Grande in the first game of the 2017 season.

Junior Tia Sanford was dominant from start to finish, recording the third hat trick of her career and one assist to lead the Wildcat attack. As a team, the Wildcats finished with 21 shots and four assists in the match.

Defensively, IWU smothered Rio Grande all evening, holding them to just one shot in the entire game, while Alex Seabeck and Jess Humpthrey combined for the shutout for the Wildcats.

“The girls have worked very hard throughout the pre-season on refining the lessons we learned last year against our league opponents,” head coach, Tim Strader, said after the win. “This group has an intentionality and commitment to the process every day in training, and tonight was a great first step as a program.

“There are several positives things we can pull from tonight’s result, but also many things we will look forward to refining on the training field in the weeks ahead. We are excited to turn our focus towards IU East tomorrow and get back to work.”

The Wildcats continued their strong play against the Red Wolves on Saturday, as IWU finished with 13 shots on net in a 2-1 victory.

Nichole Varady led the charge for the Wildcats, assisting on Madison Miller’s goal in the 6th minute before breaking a 1-1 tie in the 48th minute with a goal of her own. Sanford led the Wildcats with four shots on net, while Seabeck recorded her 100th career save in the victory.

“Tonight was a tough gritty game against a very good IU East team,” Strader said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game coming off short rest and facing a team with fresh legs. The leadership of this team came out tonight, as they found the resolve to walk away with the road win.”

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