DES MOINES, IOWA - The Vikings hosted The Pride of Clarke University in their last regular season game Thursday night. The women started off with some fire, finding themselves on the opposing side of the pitch early. Their aggressive play led to a Pride foul inside the 18. Grand View was awarded a Penalty Kick opportunity in the 9th minute of play and took advantage. Ella Forsyth strikes the high-right side of the net to take an early lead for the Vikings. The two teams battled for the remainder of the half but did not find any luck. Clarke ramped up their tempo on offensive, creating eight shot opportunities to before the end of the half. Despite the pressure by the Pride, the Vikings held them off to keep the lead 1-0 entering the half.
The second half proved to be just as competitive. The Viking women showed fight and held Clarke off the scoreboard until the 62' minute of action. Pride finally broke through the line of the defense with a goal from Hope Ward. After they knotted it up 1-1, the Vikings let up another goal in the 64' minute. The roles were now reversed for the two teams and Grand View had to find their offense again. The rest of the 45' had the women scrambling to find an equalizer. It is fair to say the momentum shifted in favor of Clarke. Pride fired 21 total shots by the end of the night and had Maya Fritz working hard. Fritz ended the contest with 8 saves in yet another impressive performance for her.
Grand View couldn't find another great opportunity to tie the match up at two, but it wasn't for a lack of effort. The Vikings played hard and fought throughout the performance but fell short. 2-1 the final on Halloween evening.
SCORING SUMMARY
9:29 – Ella Forsyth (GV)
62:14 – Hope Ward (CU)
64:09 – Own Goal (CU)
MATCH NOTES
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This contest concluded the 2024 season for the Vikings.
