Box Score FRANKLIN, Ind. — Sunday was an historic afternoon for the Earlham College women's soccer team as the Quakers defeated Franklin College 3-0.

• First on the list was claiming a share of the Heartland College Athletic Conference regular season championship. The Quakers (13-5-1, 8-1) were co-champions with Transylvania University (14-3-1, 8-1) in their initial year in the HCAC.

• Second, by virtue of a 1-0 victory over Transylvania earlier this month, the Quakers are the top seed in the upcoming HCAC Tournament that starts on Tuesday. Earlham entertains No. 4 seed Hanover College (11-6-1, 7-2) on Matlack Field at 2 p.m. No. 3 seed the College of Mount St. Joseph (8-8-2, 7-2) visits No. 2 Transylvania in Tuesday's other semifinal. The winners meet on Saturday at the highest remaining seed at 1 p.m.  

• Third, Earlham established a pair of school records with its 13th win and 11th shutout of the season.

Individually, Earlham goalkeeper Megan Holthaus (Harrison, OH, McAuley) also got into the record-breaking mood as she recorded her 10th shutout of the fall, which ties her for the most in a season with Shelly Holt, who did it in 1999.  

"It was great to finish like we did," Earlham Head Coach Jocelyn Keller said. "After two road games this weekend, I look forward to a home game for our team and to have the opportunity to play in front of our student body and faculty on Tuesday."

The Match

As far as Sunday's match is concerned, the Quakers took control early with Joy Doucette (Berwyn Heights, MD, Eleanor Roosevelt) scoring an unassisted goal at 10:10. Later in the opening period, Cate Simmermaker (Louisville, KY, DuPont Manual ) made it 2-0 with a score after a corner kick at the 34:48 mark. It was Simmermaker's fifth goal of the year.

Doucette added the final goal at 73:23, which was her 11th of the season.

The Quakers led 22-4 in shots and 10-0 in corner kicks. Holthaus had four saves, while posting the 22nd shutout of her career. Earlham's record for career shutouts is listed as 22.7 set by Missy Beckrest from 1994-97.

More History

The regular season co-championship is the first of any type of title for Earlham since 1996 when the men's cross country team won the co-championship in the North Coast Athletic Conference.

It is also the very first conference championship for any women's team since Earlham began competing in sports on the varsity level in the 1970s. However, Earlham did win three NAIA District 21 field hockey titles in 1981, 1983-84.

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