Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Toccoa Falls, GA/Knoxville, TN – This past weekend the Grace women's soccer team enjoyed a blast of a road trip down to the Smokey Mountains Area of Georgia and Tennessee. In addition to all the fun they had off the field, they also took care of business on Friday and Saturday in two very important NCCAA DII match-ups.

In their first match-up ever with Toccoa Falls College on Friday afternoon, the Tigers came away with a 3-1 victory. Toccoa Falls did a good job of possessing in their defensive third throughout, but the Tigers were eventually able to cause enough disruption and become dangerous in their attack.

"I'm happy with the way we played," said Head Coach Mike Riemersma after the Toccoa game. "The girls were ready to go right from the opening whistle. After a few adjustments at halftime I think they really did a nice job of settling in a dictating play. A really nice team win."

Jennie Sue Pilieci scored 2 two goals for the Tigers, and Haley Pilka added the other.

Saturday brought about a Mideast Region showdown with Johnson University-Tennessee, and the game did not disappoint.  The Tigers and Royals battled in very physical game for the entirety of regulation and the first overtime period and the game was still knotted at 0-0. In the second overtime period, the Tigers earned a PK and the Royals' goalkeeper made a fantastic diving save on the ball.  Jennie Sue Pilieci stormed to the rebound and retrieved the ball a millisecond before the goalkeeper could snatch it and pounded it to the corner of the net for the game-winning goal.

"Wow, that was an intense game," commented Riemersma after Saturday's 1-0 win. "They are a very physical team which took us a while to adjust to. I was proud of the way our girl's handled themselves today. You have to be mentally tough to come into a hostile environment like that and keep your composure. Johnson is a very solid team and have some nice players. The regional tournament should prove to be very interesting. I wouldn't be surprised if we see them again down the road."

After their 2-0 weekend, Grace moves to 6-1-1 on the season. The Tigers return to action this Wednesday, October 21, at Great Lakes Christian College, attempting to close out their regular season undefeated in NCCAA DII play.