Simpson battles in semifinal loss to Wartburg

WAVERLY, Iowa -- The No. 3-seeded Simpson College women's soccer team put up a strong fight against a team receiving national recognition, but ultimately fell 1-0 to No. 2-seed Wartburg in the American Rivers Conference Semifinals on Wednesday night.

"I'm so proud of our team not only tonight, but for this season," said Jeremy Reinert, Head Women's Soccer Coach. "We have changed the standard for Simpson College women's soccer to that of true contenders in not only our conference but in our region."

After a strong defensive effort by both teams in the first half, Wartburg (15-2-1, 7-1 A-R-C) finally opened the scoring with a goal in the 50th minute by Joy Smith. Simpson battled hard for the equalizer with scoring opportunities from both Megan Roberts and Jordyn Foelske, but the Knight's defense stood firm to keep the Storm off the board.

"We left it all out on the field tonight," Reinert said. "I'm so impressed by the poise, leadership and grit we put on display. We battled to the final whistle and it just didn't go our way today."

Simpson closes the season with a 13-6-1 overall record, the most wins since tallying 13 during the 2011 season. Six of the Storm's 13 wins came against A-R-C foes, giving Simpson the highest number of conference wins in 15 seasons.

Senior Megan Roberts, Simpson's second-highest scorer this season, plans to return for a fifth year next fall, but the Storm say goodbye to seniors Alyssa Tanner, Tatum Tremain and Maria Veasey. The quartet tallied 31 wins in the last four years with 19 goals and seven assists combined.

"I'm so thankful for all that our seniors have done to change this program," Reinert said. "They are foundational to an incredible four-year turnaround and have left a truly impressive legacy."

In the conference's other semifinal match, No. 6 Loras defeated four-seeded Luther 1-0 in double overtime. The top-seeded Duhawks will host Wartburg in the championship match on Nov. 6 in Dubuque.