Lisle, Ill. - The Illinois Tech women's soccer team found themselves in a rare situation Wednesday night in their conference match at Benedictine: the Scarlet Hawks were trailing 1-0 on the scoreboard just 58 seconds into the match after an early Eagles' goal. But the Scarlet Hawks shrugged it off by scoring six unanswered goals en route to a 6-1 victory over the Eagles. With the win, the Scarlet Hawks remained unbeaten in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play at 9-0-1, and improved to 12-2-2 overall. The Eagles fell to 0-6-4 in NACC play and to 0-11-6 overall.

Kenzie Tokuchi scored a pair of goals for the Scarlet Hawks, while Leyna Yonehara tallied two assists. Four other Hawks scored solo goals on the evening.

How It Happened

• Emma Ehrhardt of Benedictine opened the scoring in the match just 58 seconds in on a feed from Addi Curtis
• The Scarlet Hawks would get the equalizer at 10:54. Caitie Chimarich passed into the box to Leyna Yonehara, who spun and headed towards the right post. With a defender closing in, Yonehara passed to her left to Kenzie Tokuchi, who tapped the ball into the left corner, tying the match 1-1.
• The Scarlet Hawks took the lead at 2-1 at 14:26 when Kayla Thomas took a pass at midfield and raced down the right sideline, passed to her left to Eva Narvarta at the top of the penalty area, and Narvarte dribbled a few strides before chipping the ball over a diving Benedictine goalkeeper for her 4th goal of the season.
• The Scarlet Hawks would extend their lead to 3-1 at the 22:05 mark. A throw-in for Benedictine near the right corner inside their zone was intercepted by Yonehara 35 yards up field. Yonehara passed 10 yards forward to Chismarich, who towards the football hash marks on a straight line. As defenders began to press Chismarich, she sent a through ball between two defenders to Tokuchi, who caught the ball near the penalty kick line, dribbled two strides and fired the ball into the left corner for her second goal of the match.
• At 35:19, Illinois Tech would go up 4-1. Avery Sealey received a pass on the left football hash marks at the 15-yard line, spun forward and passed ahead to Kaitlyn Walsh five yards up field. Three defenders collapsed on Walsh, allowing Hannah Ramos to break free to the right of Walsh. Walsh passed ahead between two of her defenders to Ramos, who had a step on her defender and tucked the ball into the left corner as the goalkeeper was coming out to pressure, closing out the scoring in the first half.
• The Scarlet Hawks would continue to add on at the 62:34 mark. On an Illinois Tech corner kick from the right corner, Lucy Jorjorian sent the ball to the middle 15 yards out from goal. Gabriella Baltes received the ball and made a touch pass to her left to Allison Murray, who fired the ball from the top of the goal area into the left side of the net for a 5-1 Scarlet Hawks lead.
• The Hawks capped off the scoring in the match at the 69:10 mark. A foul by Benedictine set the Hawks up with a free kick near the football 40-yard line by the left sideline. Jorjorian tapped the ball back eight yards to Jillian Oligschlaeger. Oligschlaeger spotted Kayla Smith at the 30-yard line along the left sideline and passed her way. Smith faked inside and spun outside, separated from her defender and angled towards the left post. As she entered the goal area from the left side she fired a shot between the goalkeeper on her left and a defender on her right, into the right corner of the net for a 6-1 Illinois Tech lead.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Kenzie Tokuchi with a pair of goals, her first two of the season, on 4 shots, 3 on frame, in 46 minutes
• Leyna Yonehara with two assists in 49 minutes
• Allison Murray with 1 goal, her 5th of the season, on a team leading 6 shots, with 4 on frame, in 53 minutes
• Eva Narvarte with a goal on her lone shot of the match, in 28 minutes of action
• Hannah Ramos with 1 goal, her 6th of the season, on 3 shots, 2 on goal, in 41 minutes
• Kayla Smith with a goal on 2 shots, both on frame, in 27 minutes
• Caitie Chismarich with 4 shots, 2 on goal, in 55 minutes

Inside The Box Score

• Emma Ehrhardt with a goal 58 seconds into the match, the lone tally for Benedictine. The goal snapped the Scarlet Hawks' three-game conference shutout streak, and was only the fourth conference goal allowed all season
• Illinois Tech outshot Benedictine 28-2, with the Hawks holding a 20-1 advantage in shots on goal
• Despite giving up six goals in the match, Benedictine made 14 saves on the evening

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks return to Stuart Field on Saturday, October 26th, when they host Wisconsin Lutheran at 3:30pm in another NACC matchup. The team will also be honoring the Scarlet Hawk seniors during halftime as part of their Senior Day celebration.