CHICAGO, Ill. - The Chicago State women's soccer team matched their 2024 win total by notching their first win of the 2025 on Wednesday afternoon by beating the Mastodons of Purdue Fort Wayne. Sophomore
Tara Savage scored the game winning goal with under six minutes in the game to give the Cougars a 2-1 victory.
It did not take long for the Cougars to strike. Just 12 minutes into the first half, sophomore
Maya Dixon made a move in the box to dodge the Purdue Fort Wayne goalkeeper and found the back of the net to give Chicago State an early lead. The defense by both teams was on point for the rest of the half as Chicago State logged two more shots and took a 1-0 lead going into halftime.
The Cougars carried that 1-0 lead deep into the second half until the 71st minute mark as the Mastodons were able to tie the game 1-1. The Cougars did not get rattled by the goal and answered just 12 minutes later as sophomore
Tara Savage scored her first career goal off a touch pass assist from
Gabby Flores to give Chicago State a 2-1 with seven minutes left in the game. Freshman
Aviana Gutierrez logged her first collegiate win as a goalkeeper and made six key saves on the afternoon.
Alexis Boyer,
Tara Savage,
Veronika Avila, and
Teyha Guiden were the four Cougars who logged an impressive 90 minutes of game time.
The win on Wednesday also meant it the first win for Kevin Larry as head coach. Coach Larry coulld only describe this win as emotional:
"It was an emotional roller coaster! We went up early, allowed the one goal which tied the game up, but we found a way to take the lead again and the last few minutes was a test of our win and determination to come out on top. The ladies have been confident all week and I was able to tell from the energy they had brought to practice. It feels good to get in that win column."
Coach Larry also reflected on earning his first win as head coach at Chicago State:
"It feels so good. To get a win against a team that the we lost to last season feels great. I am excited and we got a long way to go. I am going to enjoy this one today."
With the win, Chicago State is now 1-1-1 on the season so far and will return to action on Sunday August 24, they make the short trip north to battle the UIC Flames with kickoff scheduled for 4:00 PM (CT).
