TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology women's soccer team honors five seniors Saturday, Nov. 1 when the Fightin' Engineeers host Bluffton University in the final regular season game for both teams. The game is slated to being at noon.
Rose-Hulman enters the game with a 11-4-1 record overall including a 5-2-1 mark in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play. The Engineers have won three of the last four contests and most recently defeated Anderson University for the 14th consecutive time 2-1 on Wednesday.
Offensively, three Engineers have totaled over 10 points this season. Junior Hayley Gilliam leads the squad with 12 points (3 goals and six assists) while freshman Eliska Saiz has 11 points (five goals and one assist). Junior Kate DeMoss, who scored Rose-Hulman's first goal in its victory over Anderson, has ten points (four goals and two assists) this season.
Junior goalkeeper Lucinda Combs has 107 saves through 16 games. The Rose-Hulman defense has been one of the nation's best shutting out 10 opponents this season. Combs needs just one more shutout to become the first Engineer in program history to achieve 30 shutouts in a career.
Five seniors will be playing their final regular season home games against Bluffton on Saturday.
Mackenzie Christensen - Has started all 16 games this season including all 73 career games for Rose-Hulman. Christensen has been part of a defensive unit that has shutout 10 opponents this season including 21 total opponents over the past two seasons. She totaled five of her six career points during her sophomore season.
Becca Evans - Has played in 54 career games including seven this season. She scored all of her three career goals during her freshman campaign.
Margaret Murphy - Has playing 69 career games while starting in 68 including 16 games this season. Murphy has been a part of a defensive unit that has shutout 10 opponents this season including 21 total opponents over the past two seasons. Murphy totaled both career points by scoring her first career goal during her freshman season.
Haley O'Neil - Has appeared in 61 career games while starting 46. In the last two season, O'Neil has tallied five goals and eight assists for a total of 18 of her 26 career points. O'Neil scored the game-winning goal in Rose-Hulman's victory over Earlham this season.
Sam Peters - Has served as Rose-Hulman's reserve goalkeeper for the last three seasons. Peters appeared in her first career game during her freshman season in Rose-Hulman's 4-1 victory over St. Mary-of-the-Woods. In the game, Peters recorded two saves and did not allow a goal in over 20 minutes of play.
The Engineers clinched the No. 3 seed in the HCAC Tournament with the victory over Anderson. Regardless of results across the conference on the final Saturday of the regular season, Rose-Hulman will be the No. 3 seed for the postseason tournament and will face either Franklin or Hanover in the HCAC Tournament semifinals Tuesday, Nov. 4 at a time to be announced later. This season, Rose-Hulman tied Franklin 0-0 at Franklin and fell at Hanover 2-0.
