Red Wolves slip past RedStorm in RSC quarters

Rio Grande Sports Information
     EATON, Ohio - Statistically speaking, everything pointed toward a University of Rio Grande victory.
     Everything except the scoreboard.
     Indiana University East netted a goal just over 7-1/2 minutes in and made the marker stand up, slipping past the RedStorm, 1-0, in the quarterfinal round of the River States Conference Women's Soccer Championship, Wednesday night, at Eaton High School Stadium.
     The fourth-seeded Red Wolves, who had beaten Rio Grande in regular season play just 12 days earlier, improved to 11-5-3 with the win and advanced to Saturday's semifinal round at top-seeded Oakland City University.
     The RedStorm, who were the No. 5 seed in the six-team field, finished their season at 8-6-5.
     It was the second straight 1-0 loss for head coach Brooke Perkins' team and the seventh time this season that Rio failed to score.
     The game's final numbers would've suggested otherwise, though.
     The RedStorm outshot their hosts, 10-6, including 5-4 in shots on goal, while also owning four of the five corner kick chances in the contest.
     Even the foul total was tilted in favor of Rio, with 11 whistled against IU East and just four against the RedStorm.
     Still, the only score of the night came just 7:37 into the contest when IU East's Maya Diceanu gathered in a deflected shot by Rio senior goal keeper Alba Vilades Marin (Barcelona, Spain) about 10 yards in front of the goal and pushed a shot into the back of the net.
     Of the five shots on goal that the RedStorm had in the contest, three came in the opening half.
     Rio's final chance at netting the equalizer came with 1:41 left to play when senior Carmen Morris (Lancster, OH) was turned away by IUE net-minder Elizabeth Sarfo-Benson.
     Sarfo-Benson had all five saves in the win for the Red Wolves.
     Vilades Marin had three stops in a losing cause for the RedStorm.
     Wednesday's match marked the final game in a Rio uniform for Vilades Marin, Morris, Hannah Halstead (Delaware, OH), Jitske De Muijnk (Nymegen, The Netherlands), Chianti Marks (Birmingham, England), Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH), Saskia Vos (Sydney, Australia), Amelia Willis (Waverly, OH) and Sara Estrada Fernandez (Barcelona, Spain).