Bridgeview, Ill. — Playing in its home opener, in its new home, the Chicago State women's soccer team (0-8, 0-6 WAC) dropped a 4-0 decision to Dixie State (1-6-1, 1-4-1 WAC) at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.
"Our team was very excited and grateful for the opportunity to play at SeatGeek Stadium, a NWSL and MLS professional stadium," head coach
Cristiano Costa said. "I would like to thank our athletic director,
Elliott Charles, for providing this amazing experience to our student-athletes."
The teams played to a draw in the first 15 minutes before Dixie State's Whitley Griffiths scored on an assist by Jill Bennett to put the Trailblazers up 1-0. Just over five minutes later, Sophie Stewart took a pass from Kenna Sparks and drilled a shot past Cougars goalkeeper
Stella Chiara Chiaradia and Dixie State led 2-0 at the 20:28 mark.
Chiaradia turned back a Dixie State scoring chance at the 33:04 mark and Chicago State's
Julia Oliveira executed CSU's best scoring attempt of the first half, but the shot was high of its mark and the Trailblazers preserved its 2-0 lead after the first 45 minutes.
Dixie State's Whitley Griffiths tallied a pair of second-half goals, striking first at 48:40 then again at 77:08 on assists by Kenna Sparks and Jill Bennett, respectively, to complete a hat trick. Chicago State's
Barbara Castellanos had a quality scoring chance turned away by Trailblazers goalkeeper Adelle Brown at the 60:08 mark and had another shot sail high six minutes later and Dixie State hung on to win 4-0.
"It was good to see our team creating more chances in the final attacking third while also minimizing shots on goal," Costa said.
The Cougars and Trailblazers will square off again Saturday at 1:00 p.m. CT at SeatGeek Stadium.
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