BOX SCORE
TIFFIN, Ohio – The Capital women’s soccer team used a goal and an assist each by Kaylee Phillips and Molly Sheils to secure itself of a berth in the first round of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament with a 3-1 victory at Heidelberg on Tuesday night.
With its fourth consecutive victory, Capital improved to 12-5-2 overall and 6-2-0 in OAC play. The Crusaders are alone in third place in the current OAC standings and will be either the third, fourth or fifth seed in the OAC Tournament, which begins on Monday at 2 p.m.
Heidelberg (6-11-1, 3-5-0 OAC) got on the board early with a goal just five minutes into the contest by Carolyn Gross.
CU countered in the 32nd minute in its typical fashion by taking advantage of a corner kick opportunity. Junior Kaylee Phillips (Watkins, Ohio/Watkins Memorial HS) fed the corner into the box toward classmate Lauren Bartsch (Milford, Ohio/Milford HS) who finished for a 1-1 score heading into halftime.
The Crusaders kept up the offensive pressure by outshooting the Student Princes 10-3 in the second half.
That persistence paid off with two goals in a span of 2:22 to break open a deadlocked scoreboard. Senior Molly Sheils (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville HS) fired a shot from just outside the box to the top corner in the 73rd minute for an unassisted goal. Then in the 75th minute Sheils fed Phillips who made a move past a defender and beat the keeper low for a 3-1 victory.
Juniors Rose Bussey (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City HS) and Linley Vermillion (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont HS) split the night evenly in goal for Capital which will wrap up its regular season with a trip to Westerville to face #15 Otterbein on Saturday at noon.