LAKE FOREST, Ill. – For the second season in a row, the Grinnell College women's soccer team will be playing for the Midwest Conference Tournament championship.
 
Last year's MWC Tourney champion Pioneers advanced to Saturday's title match by shutting out Lawrence University 1-0 Friday afternoon in Lake Forest, Ill. This marks the 13^th time Grinnell has advanced to the championship contest.
 
Grinnell will meet Lake Forest College, a 2-0 winner over Beloit College, in Saturday's 2 p.m. final.
 
Grinnell secured Friday's victory the same way it has all season, with stellar defense. The Pioneers raised their season shutout total to 12, a figure that is tied for second in program history only behind the mark of 14 by the 2006 squad.
 
Keeper Peyton Dixon '27 was in goal for the shutout, just as she had been for the previous 11. She recorded seven saves and is tied for second for individual shutouts in a season at Grinnell.
 
The match-winning goal came in the 27^th minute when Rama Joshi '27 recorded her second goal of the season on an assist by Tali Berk '24. On the play, Berk took a throw-in from the sideline just outside the right side of the box. She made a spin move and lofted a beautiful pass into the box to Joshi, who got a foot on it to beat the keeper with a shot that trickled into the net. It was Berk's team-high fifth assist of the year and eighth in her career.
 
Grinnell's defense did the rest as the second-seeded Pioneers held on for the victory to improve to 10-3-5 overall, their second double-digit win total in a row. Lawrence, the third seed, finished its campaign at 6-6-4.
  
The Pioneers, who tied 1-all with Lawrence in last Saturday's regular-season finale for both teams, won while being outshot 16-5. Joshi had three of Grinnell's shots, while Ella Hunt 26 and Berk had the others.
 
On Saturday, Grinnell and Lake Forest will be battling for a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament, an event in which the Pioneers participated last season.