GALESBURG, Ill. – About three weeks ago, the Grinnell College women's soccer team battled St. Norbert College to the wire in a nail-biter.
 
The same two squads had another thrilling matchup Friday afternoon in the opening round of the Midwest Conference Tournament, competing on even terms before St. Norbert seized a 2-1 win.
 
Though the Green Knights took a 1-0 lead by halftime and 2-0 edge early in the second half, the Pioneers came storming back. Grinnell chopped the deficit in half in the 66th  minute with a breakaway goal, with Michellie Thurman '19 feeding Lauren Edwards '20 the ball. Edwards took a shot inside the box from the right side about 6 yards out and scored.
 
The Pioneers followed with a few more opportunities, but couldn't quite capitalize as they finished their season with a 9-7-1 overall record. St. Norbert, 8-10-1, advances to Saturday's title contest against Knox College.
 
St. Norbert won the shots battle 12-10, but Grinnell held a 4-3 edge in corner kicks. Jordan Maddaus '19 had three shots for Grinnell, Simona Bambi '20 added two and taking one each were Valencia Alvarez '20, Gwen Holtzman '19, Edwards, Cally Carr '21 and Esmé Kayim-Yanko '21.  Elizabeth Hunt '21 played the entire contest at keeper and had one save.
 
The Pioneers, whose seven wins in league play are the most for the program since 2012, had 134 shots on goal this season. That figure ranks 10th in program history, and the 7.88 shots on goal per game is eighth.
 
Hunt had 70 saves, ninth-best in program history. On the career chart, Hunt is 10th in both contests played at keeper with 25 and saves with 94. Regan Kasprak '19, who had played keeper for Grinnell before moving back to a field position, holds career rankings of fourth in saves per game (4.33) and shutouts (11), fifth in games played at keeper (33) and sixth in save percentage (.799) and goals against average (1.15).