Central women’s soccer team flips the script by winning on late goal

Central College

Pella — A header in the 79th minute by Brittany Hinton (senior, Davenport, West HS) enabled the Central College women’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Grinnell College.

After a difficult 1-0 setback at North Central (Ill.) on a last-minute goal Saturday, Hinton’s second goal of the season, assisted by freshman Kallie Holte (Kirksville, Mo.), ensured the Dutch would not meet the same fate again.

“I thought we deserved something out of that (North Central) game,” coach Mike Kobylinski said. “We were unfortunate not to win that or at least get a draw, but it was good to get a win on home turf in the last 10 minutes. I subbed Brittany (Hinton) off and I said, ‘You’re going to go back in and win the game,’ and she did just that.”

Hinton’s late-game heroics would not have been possible without the solid defensive play of the Dutch backline, captained by another senior leader, Liz Daniels (Oconomowoc, Wis.)

“I think our defense always does a good job and that starts with Liz Daniels,” Kobylinski said.

Kobylinski also credited the rest of the defense, including junior Annie Weaver (Boone HS),who came off the bench to contribute significant minutes.

“(Weaver) played a majority of the game,” he said. “We had another injury and that’s the story of our team. One goes down and another one steps up, that’s the great thing about a team and having a team win.”

In the last two minutes the Pioneers from Grinnell had thoughts of tying the game with a late goal of their own. But a fantastic save by last year’s first team all-Iowa Conference goalkeeper, Sydney Lunardi (sophomore, Bettendorf, Davenport Assumption HS), slammed the door shut on that possibility.

“(Lunardi) did a great job finishing the game out,” Kobylinski said. “She made one crucial save for us at the end of the game. That’s why we recruited her, to win games like that for us. I think she’s one of the best goalies in the conference, she was voted first-team all-conference last year. I think she has the potential to even take it to that next level.”

The Dutch will head north Saturday to St. Paul, Minnesota take on Hamline (Minn.), whom Kobylinski called a formidable foe.

“They’re a very good side, they’re 4-0 right now,” he said. “So they’re going to be good and raring to go. That’s okay because I think we have a pretty good team, too.”