ANGOLA, Ind. -- A successful penalty kick in the opening ten minutes of play was enough as the Trine University women's soccer team held on to defeat Alma College by the score of 1-0. The victory propels the team into the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Women's Soccer Tournament.

"We knew coming in there were big ramifications for a result tonight and that Alma was a better team then their record reflected." said Head Coach Gary Boughton, "Sometimes you have to claw your way to get a win, and we did just that tonight."

After a pair of early Thunder scoring opportunities coming in the first three minutes of play both teams fell silent for five minutes. Then a rush by the Trine offense was derailed by a foul in the penalty area. Freshman Teresa Ashbrook (Dewitt, Mich. / Dewitt) took the penalty kick opportunity and converted to the top of the goal, giving the team a 1-0 lead.

The Thunder would give themselves two more scoring opportunities through the rest of the match, but spent much of the contest keeping the Scots away from the offensive zone. Alma was only able to place two shots on goal and freshman Sophie Aschemeier (Findlay, Ohio / Liberty-Benton) was ready for both. She would end the contest with just two saves, but having played a strong contest in goal.

During a frantic final fifteen minutes, the Thunder turned in a gritty performance to keep a surging Alma squad off the scoreboard and clinching the fourth seed in the upcoming MIAA Tournament. 

"I'm so proud of this group. No one outside of our locker room expected this type of record setting season," continued Coach Boughton, "The team set goals, believed in themseleves and worked like crazy to acheive them. It's been amazing to watch them grow together and I can't wait to see what they do in the playoffs."

The team finishes the regular season a program best 14-3-1 overall. They finish the MIAA slate 5-3 in a tie for fourth with Adrian College, winning the right to host the opening round of the upcoming tournament by virtue of their 4-0 victory over the Bulldogs earlier season. That contest which will be against Adrian is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Oct. 30. The time of the event is yet to be determined.

Stay tuned to trinethunder.com for more details later this week.