One year after finishing last in the Ohio Valley Conference, and not even qualifying for the conference tournament, the Lindenwood Lions women’s soccer team is headed to the championship game.
The team advanced to the finals after a nail-biting 1-0 win over Little Rock. That one goal was courtesy of Georgia Pardalos, only her third of the season, but by far the biggest. The win was the 10th of the season for the Lions, marking the first time they’ve reached 10 wins in a season since 2016. Mackenzie Compton led the Lions with six shots in the game as Lindenwood outshot Little Rock 17-12, but ultimately it was only Pardalos who was able to find the back of the net.
The first half saw a tightly contested affair that saw both teams fire off a couple of shots without having much success. Finally, toward the end of the first half, Lindenwood maintained possession of the ball, and began putting pressure on the Little Rock defense. Finally, in the 37th minute, Maddy Vasiloff would find Pardalos open, who would hammer a shot over the hands of the diving Little Rock goalie and into the back of the net for the first goal of the game, giving Lindenwood a 1-0 lead. The rest of the first half would go without much action, seeing Lindenwood take that 1-0 into the break. Caroline Ritter made three saves in the first half of play for the Lions to keep Little Rock scoreless.
Coming out of the halftime break, Little Rock looked to even the score and came out the gates firing putting constant pressure on Lindenwood but the Lions never backed down. Lindenwood had a chance to double their lead in the 69th minute when Mackenzie Compton appeared to break away, but was called for offsides by the sideline referee. In the 71st minute, Lindenwood had one of their six corner kicks on the night and failed to capitalize on the opportunity as Little Rock was easily able to clear the ball out of the box.
Little Rock appeared to have a bit of a breakaway following the corner kick as Little Rock forwards raced down the pitch with the Lions defenders sprinting back on their heels. However, a very strategic play from Mattie Ohlsen occurred, blocking a Trojan forward from getting the ball and continuing down the field. Ohlsen was assessed a yellow card for the action, but it allowed play to stop and allowed the rest of Lindenwood’s team to catch their breath. Little Rock would not be able to convert on the ensuing free kick and that would be the last real chance the Trojans would have, as Lindenwood hung on for the 1-0 semifinal victory. Caroline Ritter would only have to make one save in the second half as she pitched her eighth shutout of her career and the 2024 season.
Lindenwood will now face Morehead State, who they tied 1-1 earlier in the season at home. Morehead State defeated number one seed Tennessee Tech in penalty kicks in the other semifinal matchup. The championship game will take place this Sunday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. airing on ESPN+.
