Houghton Drops First Game at NCCAA Nationals, 3-1, to Trinity Christian
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The #2 seeded Trinity Christian College Trolls defeated the #8 Houghton College Highlanders, 3-1, in the first game of pool play at the NCCAA Women's Soccer National Championship Tournament on Monday afternoon.
The teams played evenly throughout the first half, trading shots for the first 40 minutes, but the Trolls broke through for the game's first goal in the 42nd minute and took a 1-0 into the locker room.
Trinity Christian held a 6-5 edge in shots and Houghton had a 4-1 advantage in corners in the opening 45 minutes.
The Trolls didn't waste much time in pushing the lead to 2-0, scoring in the 53rd minute, and then capped their scoring with another tally in the 74th minute. Houghton's
Shawna Sprout (Portville, NY, Portville) scored an unassisted goal in the 89th minute to break up the shutout.
The final shot totals tilted in Houghton's favor, 16-12, and corners finished 5-3 for the Highlanders.
Houghton keeper
Shawna Sprout (Portville, NY, Portville) stopped five shots.
The Highlanders (13-4-1) finish pool play against #5 Azusa Pacific University (12-3-1) on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
Live video will be available online.