With a 5-0 win Saturday at Monmouth, BR-160 Lake Forest clinched the regular season Midwest Conference championship, and remains one of the few unbeaten, untied teams in Division 3 women’s soccer at 16-0-0.
The win also set a school record for most in a season, besting the 15 wins posted by the 1996 team, the Foresters are likely envisioning a perfect season with two regular season games left. Having already won the league, the Foresters also know they’ll host the Midwest Conference tournament Nov. 7 and 8.
The Foresters are led by junior Michelle Greeneway, whose 22 goals puts her in a tie for third in the nation in D3 with Thomas More’s Olivia Huber and CCNY’s Yanique Newman. Going into the week, Cansu Usta of St. Joseph’s (Brooklyn) led DIII in scoring with 30 and Aurora’s Nicci Bermudes had 23.
Greeneway became Lake Forest’s all-time goals leader earlier this season when she got her 55th career goal in a 4-1 win over Milwaukee Engineering on Sept. 30. The Sheboygan, Wisc. native got another in that game, and since then has scored seven more, giving her 63 career goals – with a season yet to play in her college career.
Greeneway – who also is a first team All-American on Lake Forest’s ice hockey team and was named Northern Collegiate Hockey Association player of the year this past spring – set another soccer record last week when she became the Foresters’ career leader in points when she had a goal and two assists in the team’s 6-0 win at Beloit on Wednesday.
Lake Forest, in north suburban Chicago, was the preseason favorite to win the Midwestern Conference, and hasn’t faced much difficulty as the Foresters have rolled through the regular season. While they’ve had few shutouts, their offense has been prolific, thanks largely to Greeneway. The team is scoring 3.4 goals a game, in the top 25 in DIII in scoring offense.
Quality wins have included a 3-2 early season win over then BR-71 Carthage, and the 4-1 win over then BR-179 Milwaukee Engineering. But the team’s signature victory of the season was probably a 2-0 blanking of then BR-18 Macalester in early September at the ACM Soccer Showcase in the Twin Cities.
In addition to gunning for a perfect regular season, Lake Forest is hoping to return to the NCAA tournament after having missed the dance last year, after losing to Monmouth in the Midwest Conference tournament semifinals. Two years ago, the Foresters won the league tournament and went to the NCAA, but lost in the first round to Concordia College. Before that 2012 conference championship, Lake Forest hadn’t won the Midwest Athletic tournament since 2003.
Following a Sunday match at Illinois College, the Foresters will close out the regular season Nov. 1 against Knox College, before starting MWC tournament play Nov. 7.
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