Trailing by two in the second half, the Lake Forest College women's soccer team rallied for a 5-4 victory over visiting St. Norbert College on Sunday to claim the 2015 Midwest Conference championship.
The Foresters just needed a tie to take the league title for the third time in the last four years and, after taking the lead in the 22nd minute, things looked promising for the home team. The goal was scored by senior forward Michelle Greeneway, who kicked in a cross from junior midfielder Nina Perkkio while sliding toward the goal. Perkkio had worked a give-and-go with senior forward Holly Lesperance along the right side before crossing it past the St. Norbert goalkeeper.
The visitors evened the score at the 26:33 mark and took the lead with 5:17 to play in the first half.
Lake Forest had a 9-4 advantage in shots in the game's first 45 minutes but trailed 2-1 at halftime.
Lesperance was fouled in the penalty box at the 50:35 mark and Greeneway converted the penalty kick opportunity to tie the score at two.
St. Norbert regained the lead three-and-a-half minutes later and scored again 82 seconds after that to take a seemingly commanding 4-2 lead.
Forester freshman defender Susie Baca played the ball into the box in the 69th minute and a St. Norbert defender's attempt to clear the ball sent it inadvertently past the goalie, cutting the margin in half. It was Baca's second score of the season.
The tying goal was the third of the contest for Greeneway, who headed in another cross with 5:50 on the clock. Perkkio played the ball up the right sideline for Baca, who was making a run from her defender position. The pass was timed perfectly and Baca caught up to it under control just before it reached the end line and sent it across to Greeneway, who posted her fourth hat trick of the season.
Greeneway was not done scoring, however, and her 30th of the season came with just 2:07 to play. Perkkio earned her third assist of the contest on yet another cross from the right side. The ball was just out of the goalie's reach and Greeneway was there to kick in her fourth goal of the contest and the 29th game-winning score of her career.
The Green Knights scored on both of their shots in the second half while the Foresters tallied 15 attempts in the period.
Lake Forest finished the regular season with a 14-2-2 overall record and a 9-0-1 mark in league play. St. Norbert fell to 11-5-2 overall and 8-2-0 in conference play.
Along with the title comes the right to host next weekend's four-team MWC Tournament and the Foresters will take on Knox College Friday's 2:00 p.m. semifinal. St. Norbert will face Carroll University in the other semifinal at 11:00 a.m. and the winners will play at noon on Saturday for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
