Pelletier brace clinches National Tournament bid, spot in final

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- Ella Pelletier scored a pair of goals on Friday evening to lead the Bellevue University women's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Viterbo University in the semifinal round of the Continental Athletic Conference Tournament.

With the victory, Bellevue improves to 13-3-1 on the season while Viterbo concludes their 2022 campaign with an overall mark of 8-6-2.

BU 2, Viterbo 0

Bellevue controlled the attack early, winning a pair of corners, four fouls, and registering a pair of shots in the first 12 minutes before an early breakthrough gave the Bruins the lead. Ximena Jauregui took a free kick and found Claudia Gallegos who flicked a pass onto Ella Pelletier to convert her first goal of the game.

Play continued to favor the purple and goal throughout the remainder of the half and BU took that 1-0 advantage into the intermission.

The Bruins, not content to simply sit on their lead, continually applied pressure throughout the second half before finding their reward in the waning moments. Jauregui again set up a goal, finding Pelletier on a free kick and Pelletier headed home the insurance tally.

Jenn Amaro finished with a pair of saves in goal to raise her season total for shutouts to 10.

Molly Ripley stopped four shots in goal for Viterbo who was out-shot 10-6 on the evening and 6-3 in shots on goal.

Player of the Match:

Morgan McIlnay

Coach Tom White:

"We started the game really well and got rewarded with a goal from Ella. We knew Viterbo would keep the fight up and we matched them in every department second half. Now it's time to recover the best we can and enjoy a cup final tomorrow."

Up Next:

Bellevue advances to tomorrow's CAC Championship Game where they meet Georgia Gwinnett College in a rematch of last year's title game. Kick-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. The Bruins defeated the Grizzlies 1-0 on Oct. 16 in Cedar Rapids in their most recent meeting.