Finishing the season as Co-Conference Champs would be something to celebrate for most programs across the country, but for the women’s soccer team, they are not satisfied yet. They will not be satisfied until they are sipping on their lemonade in San Antonio in December, and that journey starts now.

With their lone conference blemish coming as a tie to Wartburg, the Duhawks quite literally blew their competition out of the water. Only allowing four goals in conference play, they know that they are talented, but they feel they still have a lot to prove.

Senior captain Jess Kern is excited for the postseason because she knows that Loras has what it takes.

“We’re excited for the upcoming games because of the potential our team has. We feel we can be successful as a team and make it far.”

Total team play is what has gotten Loras to this point, and that is what they are going to lean on when it comes time for the NCAA Tournament.

After a slow start, the Duhawks seemed to heat up as the temperature went down. In the month of October alone, Loras owned a +34 goal differential, which is certainly a feat to be proud of. But none of that matters now, now it is time to play for the pride and glory that Loras is known for.

“We work for the entire year. It’s the best and most exciting time of the season. Every game we have to play our best and hardest because we never know when it could be the last time that we step out onto the pitch,” said senior captain Kate Young.

Loras took on the Luther College Norse on Wednesday evening with hopes to return to the Conference Championship match once again.

For the women, it’s “go time.”

The women’s soccer team, ranked No. 16 in the nation, had to wait a little longer for its showdown with No. 14-ranked Washington University on Sunday afternoon, as the men’s match needed extra time, but the wait didn’t distract the Duhawks.

The Duhawks immediately came onto the field to pressure on the Bears.

“We came out really strong and really wanted to beat this team to show that we can compete with the best of the best,” said senior Jess Kern.

It took all but 12 minutes for the scoring in this game to start. Danielle Vujovic and Maddie Tennant combined for a nice play on the right side, springing Maddie into space. Tennant then put a cross in that found Tonya Lohmeyer, who chested the ball down and poked it through into the net to give the Duhawks the lead, 1-0.

“I knew the cross was coming in from Maddie, but I wasn’t sure where on my body it was going to land,” Lohmeyer said. “I was able to get a good hit on it and get us on the board.

The Duhawks were not done just yet: a combination of offensive pressure and a poor decision led to yet another Loras goal. At the top of the 18, a Washington player inadvertently chipped the ball past the goalkeeper.

The Duhawks scored again, not even a minute later, when Lohmeyer grabbed a penalty for the Duhawks after being taken down inside the 18.  Kern would convert the spot kick for her sixth goal of the season. Just after the quarter-hour, the Duhawks were up 3-0, and definitely in the driver’s seat.

After the penalty the game slowed down as much as a top-20 match can and the score remained 3-0 until the last few minutes of the first half.

Washington found their first tally of the game in the 43rd minute as Mari Greenberg slipped it past Katie Chambers.  Greenberg came onto the ball after the Bears’ first shot hit post and rebounded into the 6-yard box.

The first half would end that way, and Loras followed it by honoring their seniors during the break.  Katie Chambers, Lisa Waltz, Natalie Schlader, Kate Young, Brittan Rooney, Tonya Lohmeyer, Jessica Kern, and Ali Schmitt were all honored for their contributions to the Duhawk program.

The second half was a continuous game of back-and-forth soccer. In probably the most physical half of soccer the ladies have seen all year, Loras held strong with an impressive defensive display.

After a couple chances for the Duhawks to score in the first 10 minutes, the Bears started to really press and put the Duhawks under quite a bit of pressure. The defense, led by senior and reigning IIAC defensive player of the week, Katie Chambers, did not break and posted a shutout in the second half.

On Tuesday, the Iowa Conference named sophomore Kinsey Campbell the new defensive player of the week.

Chambers was called upon a handful of times and was certainly up to the task. An impressive 70th minute save from Chambers prevented the Bears from getting back in the game and really opening up the contest.

The Duhawks were not without some offense of their own though, as Kate Young led a counter attacking offense to put some pressure of their own on the Bears. The Duhawks were not able to tally another, but between their counter and solid defense, it was enough to hold onto the victory and defeat the Bears, 3-1.

Loras now is preparing for the Iowa Conference Tournament this weekend and hopes to take home the crown once again.

Loras is making it extremely difficult for opposing teams to score. In the last 630 minutes of play, the Duhawks have only given up a total of one goal, thanks to stellar goal defense by senior Katie Chambers, and freshmen Michelle Vonachen and Hannah Wilson.

They’ve been scoring at a rapid clip too as well. In those 630 minutes of play, Loras has racked up 27 goals, equivalent to a goal every 23 minutes. Any team that scores at that kind of pace is certainly a force to be reckoned with.

But the team knows that the recent run of success won’t come as easy as it has the rest of the season. With upcoming matches against Central this week, following the game against Coe, Loras looks to continue to improve its play so they are at the top of their game come next Wednesday, when No. 10-ranked Wartburg comes into the Rock Bowl.

“Everyone on our team is looking forward to the Wartburg game because it should be a great match up and will most likely determine who will win the Iowa Conference and host the conference tournament,” said senior Kate Young.

The Duhawks have not lost in the past 23 matches in the Rock Bowl. Add on top of that the vigorous rivalry between the two programs, and you have the makings of a hard-nosed, gritty match.

“Our upcoming games will bring some good competition for us. We are working hard in practice so that we don’t lose a step and can keep our success going,” said Chambers.

This weekend, Loras hosts the Central College Dutch in the Rock Bowl at 3:30 p.m. The Dutch come in with a 8-3 (1-1) record, with their Iowa Conference loss coming at the hands of the Wartburg Knights, 6-0. They will certainly be looking to overcome the loss, so the Duhawks will need to be prepared and come out firing on all cylinders like they have been so far in this season.

“This match will be a good opportunity for our team to continue to utilize our depth and keep us going strong in the Iowa Conference,” said junior Jayne Eslinger.

The Spartans could not equalize one, let alone four Duhawk goals during their Iowa Conference match Saturday evening at the Rock Bowl.

The Duhawks looked to come out strong and apply pressure from the very start, just like they’ve done all season long. After earning a corner in the 4th minute, senior Jess Kern connected with first-year Danielle Vujovic to put the Duhawks up 1-0, and there would be no looking back from that point on.

Loras saw many more scoring opportunities during the first half, but as has been a problem most of the season, they could not finish.

At halftime, Coach Dan Rothert was pleased with the team’s performance but challenged them to finish their scoring chances. Little did he know that they would respond three times over.

“Coach told us at halftime that we needed to put goals away,” said sophomore middle Jackie Tumberger. “That was the biggest thing as we tend to score one goal in the first half and we needed to put them away in the second half and finish them off.”

In the 54th minute, sophomore Maddie Tennant would add a tally of her own, connecting with the ball after a Kern corner attempt struck the post.

Eight minutes later, senior Kate Young would put the third goal away for the Duhawks after a loose ball came into the scoring area.

The final tally for the Duhawks would come courtesy of a penalty kick. Senior Lisa Waltz applied severe pressure on Dubuque’s backline and forced the foul. Striking the ball with ease, she sent it along the ground into the corner of the net.

Following an abrupt ending to their 2010 season, the Duhawk women’s soccer team is ready to get back on the pitch and return to work.

Following a 21-1 campaign, the women have plans to return to what got them to the Sweet 16 of last year’s NCAA Tournament, and that’s just taking each game at a time.

After leading the 2010 team with 12 goals and 7 assists, senior all-American Kate Young is poised to lead this squad to glory.

“For us, we had such a successful season last year, so we wanted to just keep building off of that,” said Young. “We didn’t want to rest and be happy with where we got. We all wanted to get better and get touches on the ball whenever we could.”

This year’s pre-season brought a little bit of a different approach with the men’s and women’s team spending six days in Costa Rica playing with some international talent.

Loras would finish 1-1-1 in their international play, but felt like they gained a lot of good experience to help them in their regular season.

“The teams we played were very technical and it helped us to see different styles than what we would normally see,” said Young.

They opened up their regular season pitted against an old foe, No. 7-ranked Wheaton College. Sophomore Madeline Tenant, with the courtesy of an Ali Scmitt corner kick, would open up the scoring for the Duhawks. But Wheaton would power back in the second half with three unanswered goals, leaving the Duhawks with their first loss of the season.

Saturday, Loras would get into the win column against DePauw, thanks to a goal from junior Rachel Rieger in the 68th minute. First-year goalkeeper Michelle Vonachen would earn her first career shutout as a Duhawk.

Loras will host its home opener Sunday, Sept. 11, when Macalaster College visits the Rock Bowl.

The women’s soccer team’s unbelievable season came to an end in the third round of the NCAA Division III Championships after a heartbreaking loss on penalty kicks to Otterbein College.

The Duhawks came into the Sweet 16 round having won 15 straight matches and a near perfect record on the season. However, neither team was able to score in regulation or in the overtimes and the match was sent to penalty kicks to decide who would advance.

The Duhawks took an early lead 1-0 in penalty kicks after junior Jessica Kern connected on her opportunity but were unable to find the net on their next three opportunities and lost 3-1.

“I think losing in penalty kicks hurts the worst.  We thought we had our chances to win and even taking the lead in the penalty kicks, we were positive.  It hurts as we felt we were good enough to still be competing for national championship,” said coach Dan Rothert.   “We are going to use this as motivation, much like our penalty kick loss last year in the conference semifinals that ended our season.”

The tie gave the Duhawks a record of 22-1-1 for the season and in the latest Division III poll were ranked fourth in the nation. In addition to reaching the Sweet 16, the women also won the Iowa Conference and the Conference tournament.

“I can’t say enough about this year’s team. They put Loras women’s soccer back on the map and set a example for future teams,” said Rothert.

The women will lose seniors Kelly Murphy, Lisa Smith and Hillary Reed to graduation this year.

“I can’t say enough about them.  They really took ownership this year and led us from a disappointing 2009 to a fantastic 2010,” said Rothert. “They let this team form a new identity, one of an elite team, and I can’t be prouder of that.”

Coach Rothert has high expectations of the upcoming season as the Duhawks will return 10 of 11 starters that include: goalkeeper junior Katie Chambers, top goal scorer junior Kate Young and Kern who compiled a team high 15 assists on the year.

“We have pretty much all our firepower back next year,” he said. “It should be a great team.”

The women’s soccer team has dominated their opponents all season and their consistent play propelled them to a berth in the round of sixteen.

The number four ranked Duhawks defeated Aurora University 3-1 in the opening round and edged out Wartburg for the third time this year winning 2-0 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Aurora University Spartans traveled to the Rock Bowl to take on Loras in the opening round of the NCAA tournament last Friday. Each team failed to produce goals in the first half and the second half began with the score 0-0.

The Duhawks came out of the gates in the second half to strike first blood as a set play worked to perfection; junior goalkeeper Katie Chambers headed in a free kick from junior Jessica Kern in the 59^th minute to give the Duhawks an early second half lead. The momentum wouldn’t last long, however, as three minutes later the Spartans put in their only tally of the game in the 62^nd minute.

The Duhawks broke out of the tie almost as soon as it happened, as two minutes later Chambers headed in a corner kick from Kern for her second goal of the game and third goal of the season.

“She’s become a major threat right now and other teams are scared of her. For our goal keeper to score two goals it’s unbelievable,” said coach Dan Rothert.

Only seconds later first-year Sarah Trump sent a high bouncing ball over the keepers head from 50 yards out to seal the victory for the Duhawks as they were able to hold on defensively for the last 25 minutes to end Aurora’s season.

The victory advanced Loras to the second round of the tournament hosting Wartburg College exactly one week after they edged them 1-0 to earn the Iowa Conference Tournament trophy. Identical to the opening round match up, it was once again goalkeeper Chambers putting the Duhawks on the board heading in a corner from none other than Kern; a duo who have hooked up for goals three times in the last two games.

This sent the Duhawks to the locker room with a 1-0 lead. The women came out strong in the second half by creating scoring chances and playing sound defensively and were able to net an insurance goal late in the 73rd minute to close out the game.

Junior Kate Young lofted a shot from 35 yards out and sent it over the goalkeeper for her 12th goal of the year. The Duhawks were able to hold Wartburg to only one shot on goal and advanced to the semifinals with a 2-0 victory.

“We seemed to have more energy than them. Katie Chambers and Kate Young proved to me why they are not just two of the best players in the conference, but nationally,” said Rothert.

The Duhawks hope to continue to build and play well as they head into the sweet 16 on the coat-tails of a 15 game winning streak.

“We are striking fear in our opponents on our set plays in addition to our normal, strong play. We need to stay strong and keep it going,” said Rothert.

The women’s soccer team defeated the Aurora University Spartans tonight by a score of 3-1. This now brings the Duhawks to a record of 21-1 and sends them into the next round of the NCAA Tournament.

A lot of anticipation was in the air for the game as the Loras Duhawks (21-1) faced off against the Aurora University Spartans (16-5-1).A windy, cold night swept through the Rock Bowl for the first round game for the Duhawks but that didn’t slow down the momentum. In the first half strong performances were brought on by Kinsey Campbell, Madeline Tennant and Kate Young, but failed to produce a goal in the first half. The Spartans were the same with strong performances especially by goal keeper Nicky Cardon, who made some jumping and diving saves for Aurora.

Into the second half, the Duhawks earned a free kick, which was taken by junior forward Jess Kern to kick for the Duhawks. Kern kicked a laser shot, and junior goalkeeper Katie Chambers used her head to put the ball into the back of the net, breaking the scoreless tie in favor of the Duhawks. The lead fell short though as less than 3 minutes later when Aurora midfielder Christine Kwilosz sent a skipping shot towards the goal to bring the score to 1-1. With 25 minutes left in the second half, Kern took the corner kick for the Duhawks, and would connect once again with goalkeeper Katie Chambers to bring the score to 2-1 in Loras’ favor. The goal was Chambers’ third on the year. “A keeper getting a goal and two on the year is almost unheard of,” said Coach Dan Rohert, “she’s big, strong and athletic and play out there. She was mad about giving up a goal and went out there and put one right back on them.”

Later in the half freshmen Sarah Trump booted the ball from 50 yards out to bring the score to 3-1. The Duhawks would go on to win and end the Spartans season, and advancing the Duhawks to the next round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer D-III Tournament. With the win, the Duhawks will have a rematch of last week’s IIAC Tournament Championship. “[Wartburg is a] tough team and we’re going to need to step it up,” says Coach Rothert “we’re going to utilize our speed and defense. It should be interesting.”

The women’s soccer team won the Iowa Conference Tournament last weekend by edging rival Wartburg, 1-0, at the Rock Bowl.
But before the Duhawks could duke it out with the Knights, they first needed to defeat the Luther College Norse.
Luther came into the game seeded number four. Luther came out of the gates hot and tried to put the pressure on the Duhawks, but Loras came out of the gates even hotter.
Only three minutes into the first half, first-year Jaclyn Tumberger found the back of the net with an assist by juniors Jessica Kern and Kate Young.
The Duhawks and Norse butted heads the rest of the first half with neither scoring a goal.
Going into the second half, Tumberger scored yet again on the 60th minute again with an assist by Kern. This brought about the final score of the game 2-0, as neither team scored a point for the remainder of the game.
The No. 1-seeded Duhawks met the number two seeded Wartburg Knights from the opposite side of the bracket. The high anticipation for the match was met, as it proved to be a long and hard-fought battle between the two most talented teams in the conference.
The Duhawks broke the 0-0 tie late in the first half as senior Kelly Murphy put in the first goal of the game and it proved to be the only tally of the contest, assist courtesy of Tumberger.
“I’m still in shock,” Murphy said. “If you would have told me at the end of the day the final score was 1-0 and I scored the only goal I wouldn’t believe it. I just came in, won the ball and I passed it to one of our forwards. I saw a through ball and called for it back, and I had an open shot and it went in.”
The goal was Murphy’s second goal of her four-year career, the first one coming just a week earlier in a blowout victory against Buena Vista to clinch the conference.
“We played our hearts out and held them off. They’re a good team and wanted it bad,” Murphy said. “We were able to hold them off; I think we just wanted it a little more.”
Murphy was also named the Iowa Conference’s Player of the Week for women’s soccer.
The Duhawks slowed the pace in the second half, only putting up one shot on goal after firing out five in the first half. In the meantime, the defense was able to contain a strong Wartburg attack, fending off five shots on goal as the Knights kept pressing deep into the Duhawks’ side of the field. After one final rush by the Knights, Loras was able to clear the ball down field and let the clock run out.
“We only beat them by a goal; they’re a good team,” said Coach Dan Rothert. “We fought to the end and were able to keep them out of the net. It came down to finishing and Kelly Murphy scored the second goal of her career. I got to give it to her.”
The win earned the women a birth in the NCAA Division III tournament and they will head in as the number four ranked team in the country.
“Playing good competition like Wartburg is good preparation for the tournament,” said Rothert. “That’s the kind of teams we’re going to see in the NCAA tournament so it will put us in that spot where we’re prepared.”
Loras will host the opening round of the NCAA tournament at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, right here at the Rock Bowl against Aurora University. Aurora has a record of 16-5-1.

— Katlyn Gerken contributed

The women’s soccer team beat Buena Vista on Saturday to polish off a perfect regular-season record in the Iowa Conference record.
The Duhawks enter postseason play as the No. 4-ranked team in NCAA Division III. They have an 11-match winning streak and an 18-1 overall record. They were 8-0 in the conference conference. Loras has not lost since Sept. 22, when No. 18-ranked Augustana squeaked out a 1-0 victory that turned out to be a perfection-breaking loss for the Duhawks.
But on Saturday, the Duhawks had no trouble scoring during an 8-0 trouncing of Buena Vista.
“We certainly wanted to win the conference outright,” Coach Dan Rothert said. “The opportunity to be sole champions and be 8-0 in the conference was definitely a big factor going into the game. We knew if we played our game, we’d be able to take care of business.”
Loras netted five goals in the first half alone. First-year Jaclyn Tumberger started off the scoring frenzy putting two goals in the back of the net in the first 23 minutes of the match, with both assists coming courtesy of junior Ali Schmitt.
First-year Madeline Tennant scored on a header off a cross from sophomore Jayne Eslinger. Junior Kate Young found an opening for a breakaway and received a pass from junior Tonya Lohmeyer for her team-leading 11th goal of the season. First-year Lynn DeVriese added the fifth goal of the half off another assist by Lohmeyer to put the Duhawks in total control of the game.
“We were finishing chances we might not have finished in the past and we had a lot of players score who haven’t been in the past,” said Rothert. “Scoring early allowed us to change our game plan and be able to celebrate our championship a little bit in the second half.”
The second half resulted in three more goal-scoring tallies for the Duhawks. Sophomore Rosie Roe scored for her second goal of the season, DeVriese added her second of the game off an assist by first-year Megan Kittleson, and senior Kelly Murphy recorded her first goal of the year, with an assist credited to junior Brittan Rooney.
The Duhawks truly put on a show, peppering the Buena Vista goalkeeper with 22 shots while also recording their 12th shutout of the season.
“Everyone got a chance to play. Kelly (Murphy), our senior captain, scored her first goal of her career, and Lynn DeVriese scored her first and second goal of the season,” Rothert said. “Getting the trophy presented to us after the game is a good start to the postseason.”
Loras also will host the Iowa Conference Tournament this weekend. The women have yet to lose at the Rock Bowl, posting a 9-0 home record.
“It’s something we talk about every day, but it’s a new season,” Rothert said. “18-1 was great, the winning streak was great, but how we did during the regular season doesn’t matter now. We have to take it one game at a time like we have been doing all season.”
The Duhawk will enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed.
“We have a target on our backs. We want to win and continue to make a statement, and also get a good seed in the NCAA tournament,” said Rothert. “We’re hosting the tournament, so it should be fun and we hope to have good crowds. Playing at home we think is an advantage. So we are certainly excited for both teams, that the women earned that and hopefully it gives us an advantage for both the men and women. Our administration does a great job of putting together a first-class tourney, so we’re certainly excited to be playing at home.”