PULASKI, Tenn. - No. 11 Indiana Wesleyan Women's Soccer traveled down to Tennessee to take on the University of Tennessee Southern for the first of two straight road matches. The Wildcats went to business early and didn't let up any ground to the Firehawks. IWU took the match 4-0 behind Alyssa Hamann's 2 goals and Avery Sluss's 7 saves, her highest single game total since 2024. The Wildcats look to Rochester Christian on Wednesday, September 2nd.
Senior Alyssa Hamann continued her strong offensive season with the first goal of the match in the 5th minute assisted by Aliyah Denton. Less than a minute later, IWU gained a penalty kick opportunity that was taken and made by Katelyn VanderArk to push the lead to 2 early on. After halftime, the Wildcats started strong yet again in the second half. The third goal of the match came from the same combination as the first with Hamann scoring and Denton assisting. Freshman Sadie Gray scored her first career goal to put a cap on the match in the 86th minute of action. Senior Avery Sluss made an impressive performance in net for the Wildcats, making 7 saves on 7 shots on goal. This marks the second career shutout for Sluss against UT Southern, the first occurring in 2023 when she made a career high 9 saves as a freshman.
THE ESSENTIALS
- Location: Pulaski, Tenn. | Grissom Pitch
- Records: IWU: 4-0-0 (0-0-0) | UTS: 1-1-0 (0-0-0)
- NAIA Top-25 Poll: IWU - #11 | UTS – Unranked
WHAT HAPPENED
- Hamann opened the scoring midway through the 5th minute of play assisted by fellow senior Aliyah Denton.
- Katelyn VanderArk then scored on a penalty kick chance less than 20 seconds of game time later.
- Denton assisted Hamann for IWU's 3rd goal of the match in the 54th minute.
- Freshman Sadie Gray scored the final goal for the Wildcats in the 85th minute assisted by Sydney Couch.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- 16 & 0: Avery Sluss has 16 career saves and 0 goals allowed in 2 career games against UT Southern.
- 6: Alyssa Hamann has scored 6 goals in the last 3 games as she is now tied for 3rd in the NAIA in goals on the young season.
- 1: Sadie Gray collected her first career goal as a Wildcat.
HAMANN PERSPECTIVE
- "What an awesome win for the team today," said forward Alyssa Hamann. "Tonight ended up being both a mental and a physical battle for us but I am so encouraged by how we're looking at this point of the season. We responded appropriately in every way. I am proud of our patience and attitude and am so grateful for a coaching staff that leads us so well. Even more than the great performance tonight, this is such a selfless, encouraging, loving, faithful, and hard-working group of girls."
LOOKING FORWARD
- The Wildcats face Rochester Christian on Wednesday, September 2nd at 3:00 PM.
- Links for stats and video are available at IWUWildcats.com.
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