The Grinnell College women's soccer team bounced back from a shutout loss at Loras College two days earlier to post a shutout of their own, earning a 5-0 home win over Cornell College on Saturday.

The Pioneers, who improved to 2-1 on the season, bolted out to a 2-0 halftime lead when Becca Mackenzie '09 scored in the ninth minute and Miki Nakamura '10 added a 41st-minute goal thanks to an assist from Lauren Cantley '11. Mackenzie's goal was her second of the season.

In the second half, Kim Durinick '09 scored in the 48th minute off an assist by Gabi Maldonado-Bell '09 before Nakamura converted her second goal of the contest, one of the unassisted variety in the 58th minute. It was Nakamura's third goal of the season. The Pioneers added some insurance in the 71st minute when Frances Leslie '10 scored on assists from Katherine Ni '09 and Mackenzie.

Laura McElroy '11 played the entire game at keeper for the Pioneers and turned in her first shutout of the season while recording six saves. Grinnell outshot the visitors, who fell to 1-2, by a 26-11 count and had an 8-6 edge in shots on goal.

Grinnell takes to the road after the weekend game to play Central College in Pella on Sept. 10. Game time is 5:30 p.m.
Box Score

The Grinnell College women's soccer team will bring a 1-1 mark into Saturday's home non-conference game against Cornell College. The game, Grinnell's third straight against an Iowa Conference foe, starts at 11 a.m.

The Pioneers opened the year with a 4-1 win over Coe College, and then lost Thursday night at Loras College by a 3-0 count. The Pioneers have gotten goals this season from Miki Nakamura '10, Becca Mackenzie '09, Katherine Ni '09 and Lara Meyer '11. Keeper Ingrid Wennerberg '11, who has split time with Laura McElroy '11, has a 1.00 goals against average and .800 save percentage.

Cornell enters the contest with a 1-1 record, as well, earning a 2-1 win over Iowa Wesleyan on Wednesday after opening the season with a 1-0 setback to Ashford University. Leanne Carberry has both goals for the Rams, while Sara Bleeker and Jen Swotek both have assists. Courtney Evans has worked all 180 minutes at keeper and has a .800 save percentage and 1.00 goals against average.

Grinnell takes to the road after the weekend game to play Central College in Pella on Sept. 10. Game time is 5:30 p.m.

Loras College got two goals from Kate Young in the first 7:22 of the game on its way to a 3-0 home win over the Grinnell College women’s soccer team Thursday night.

The winners, who improved to 2-0 on the season, also got a late goal from Kristine Mason to account for the final score. The Duhawks outshot Grinnell by a 22-8 count. Becca Mackenzie ‘09 had three shots for Grinnell, while Miki Nakamura ‘10 had two - both shots on goal. Kim Durinick ‘09, Mackenzie and Frances Leslie ‘10 also had shots on goal for the Pioneers.

Laura McElroy ‘11 and Ingrid Wennerberg ‘11 shared keeper duties for the 1-1 Pioneers. McElroy had five saves and Wennerberg three.

Grinnell returns to the home field on Saturday when another Iowa Conference foe, Cornell College, visits. Game time is 11 a.m.

The Grinnell College women's soccer team got its 2008 campaign off to a flying start Saturday with a 4-1 home victory over non-conference foe Coe College.

Four different players found the back of the net for the Pioneers, including Miki Nakamura '10 (pictured) who also had an assist among her totals. Becca Mackenzie '09 opened the scoring for Grinnell in the 13th minute when she scored on a penalty kick, sending the ball into the left side of the net beyond the reach of Coe's keeper.

The Kohawks tied the game in the 18th minute as Taylor Allen scored unassisted. But the Pioneers rallied to take a 2-1 lead into halftime as Lara Meyer '11 scored in the 36th minute on assists from a pair of first-year players, Kirsten Louthan '12 and Cynthia Dominguez '12. The Pioneers kept it going from there, tacking on two more goals in the second half. Katherine Ni '09 scored in the 48th minute on assists by Nakamura and Kim Durinick '09, while Nakamura tallied a goal in the 84th minute with the benefit of an assist by Sydney Stoker '09.

The Pioneers outshot Coe by the commanding figure of 31-2 and had 14 shots on goal. Nakamura and Louthan led the way with five shots each, while Ni, Mackenzie and Meyer had four each. Laura McElroy '11 and Ingrid Wennerberg '11 shared keeper duties for the Pioneers, with McElroy working the first half and Wennerberg a scoreless second half.

The Pioneers play their annual alumni game at 1 p.m. Sunday before jumping back into regular-season action Sept. 4 at Loras College in Dubuque.
Box Score

Midwest Conference coaches have picked the Grinnell College women's soccer team to battle for the league crown in 2008.

The Pioneers garnered two first-place votes in preseason balloting and were selected to finish in the runner-up spot. Defending champion Carroll was picked as the favorite after collecting seven first-place votes, while Lake Forest was tabbed for a third-place finish and had the other top vote.

St. Norbert and Monmouth rounded out the top five and were followed, in order, by Lawrence, Beloit, Ripon, Knox and Illinois College.

Grinnell placed fourth in the conference last season with a 6-3 record.
2008 Midwest Conference Preseason Release

With a strong nucleus returning, the Grinnell College women's soccer team will seek big things in its 2008 campaign.

"We have a very strong senior class coming back," said Pioneers' coach Heather Benning, whose team was 10-9 overall last season and 6-3 in the Midwest Conference. "We have seven seniors, and five of them started. All were significant contributors."

Leading the way is three-year All-Midwest Conference defender Becca Mackenzie, who anchored the team's stifling defense. Another senior defender, Kelly Brouse, has also earned all-conference honors during her Pioneer career and forward Katherine Ni has either led the team in scoring or been among the leaders in her previous three seasons. She was second last year in points with 18 and goals with eight.

Rounding out the list of senior returnees are forward Sydney Stoker, who was fifth in the Midwest Conference last year with seven assists, midfielder Gabi Maldonado-Bell, midfielder Kim Durinick and defender Brenna Curley. Durinick was third on the team in goals last year with six.

Two-time All-Midwest Conference forward Miki Nakamura anchors the junior returnees. She was second in the league in points per game (2.13), goals (14) and goals per game (0.93) and third in points (32) despite being injured part of the season. "Miki and (forward) Frances Leslie will certainly be leaned upon for goal production," said Benning.

Among the sophomore returnees are both of the team's keepers, Laura McElroy and Ingrid Wennerberg. McElroy was fourth in the Midwest Conference last year in goals against average (1.43). "Both of them gained valuable college experience in the net last year and that will help them immensely this season," said Benning.

Another sophomore returnee is All-Midwest Conference defender Ellie Deal. Rounding out the list of sophomores are Lauren Cantley (midfielder), Lara Meyer (midfielder), Dylan O'Donoghue (midfielder/forward), Liz Dreier (midfielder/forward) and Maia Olsen (midfielder).

The incoming first-year class includes Kirsten Louthan (midfielder/forward), Becca Carter (midfielder), Meenu Charaschanya (midfielder), Lauren Horn (midfielder/defender), Cynthia Dominguez (defender), Katherine Shatto (midfielder/forward), Samantha Bates (defender), Heather Kubicek (midfielder/forward) and Stephanie Rouse (midfielder).

"With the first-year class we're looking to fill the hole at center-mid, and we're expecting a lot in that area from Kirsten Louthan," said Benning. "Another strong contributor should be Becca Carter, who comes from the same club program as Laura McElroy. People like Lauren Horn and Cynthia Dominguez will be key performers as they gain experience this year to serve as replacements for a big defensive group that we'll graduate after this season."

Benning is hoping the Pioneers can capture the Midwest Conference crown. "Being a part of a strong program means having consistent and high expectations," she said. "Our priority is to bring our strongest game to conference competition and put ourselves in position to reclaim the league title."

Benning also noted the team has mixed up its usual non-conference schedule. "We're not playing some of our traditional opponents, and seeing different teams will be exciting," she said. "We'll be playing people early in the season who aren't familiar with our style. We can use those games to see our first-years in action before we get into the heart of the league schedule."

A trio of Grinnell College women's soccer players have been named to the All-Midwest Conference first team.

Rebecca Mackenzie '09 (upper left) and Miki Nakamura '10 (upper right) both repeated as first-team picks and were joined on the 10-player elite squad by teammate Hannah Sayle '08 (lower left).

Mackenzie, of St. Paul, Minn., was a key defender for the Pioneers as they finished with a solid 6-3 mark in league play. She was sixth on the team in points with 11, including five assists and three goals.

Nakamura, of Honolulu, Hawaii, ranked among the MWC leaders in a handful of categories despite missing a portion of the season due to injury. She led the team in goals (14, which ranked second in the league) and points (32, which was third-best in the MWC).

Sayle, of Memphis, Tenn., put up a strong showing this season by scoring 10 points. That total included four goals and two assists. The Pioneers had one second-team selection, Ellie Deal '11 (lower right) of Seattle, Wash. Deal recorded an assist this season from her defender spot.

Jason Bretzmann of Carroll College was named the MWC Coach of the Year, while Players of the Year were St. Norbert College's Jessica Schadrie (offensive) and Carroll's Kari Schelk (defensive).
All-Conference Release