Eagles Prepare For CCAC Tournament

Elgin, IL - On Wednesday night, the Eagles' Women's Soccer team will begin CCAC conference tournament action. As the #6 seed, they will travel to #3 seed St. Francis for a 7pm match. 

The Eagles enter the match 5-4-8 overall, and 4-2-5 in conference play this year. St. Francis enters 8-5-5 overall, and 6-2-3 in conference play. These two teams historically play each other tough. Earlier this year, in a home game, the two teams tied at 0-0. Last year at St. Francis, they tied at 3 goals apiece. A low scoring, close game, is expected again tonight in this matchup. 

Should the end of regulation end in a tie tonight, the two teams will go to penalty kicks as was the case in 2021. That playoff game ended 0-0, but it was USF advancing on penalty kicks. 

Down the stretch, JU was in a bit of a slump finding the back of the net, but in their last two games, needing wins, were able to put 6 total goals on the board. Perhaps they have found their rhythm once again at just the right time. 

In the regular season, Yeyahs Macias led the team with 9 goals scored. Macias started the year on fire and was a goal-scoring machine in the early part of the season. But with her speed, she is always a threat to score. 

Kelly Leon and Daisy Garcia both finished with 7 goals scored, tied for second place on the team. Leon also led the team with 6 assists. Maria Artaloitia and Isabella Garrelts were tied for second with 4 each. 

Macias and Leon are currently tied as the top two point scorers with 20 points each. 

The backbone of the Eagles will be in the net with sophomore Eva Fernandez. Fernandez started all 17 games in goal, and tallied 104 saves on the year. She posted an .846 save percentage in the regular season, and tallied 5 shutouts on the year. 

Payton Siragusa could be a scorer to watch. She scored two second half goals last week against St. Xavier to propel the Eagles to a big win. And as always, Stephanie Naskrent (Freund), will be a calming defensive rock for JU. 

With a win, the Eagles would either travel to Olivet Nazarene, or host Trinity Christian in semi-final action on Saturday November 9th.