Box Score RICHMOND, Ind. — Three goals in the first half was all the Earlham College women's soccer team would need Tuesday afternoon as the Quakers defeated Hanover College 3-0 on Matlack Field.

"It was awesome," Earlham Head Coach Jocelyn Keller said. "We came out with the intensity that we had talked about before the game and we proved ourselves."

The victory means that the Quakers (14-5-1) will face Transylvania University (15-3-1) at home on Saturday in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Championship match.

"The team played really well together," senior forward Karman Duchon said. "It's such a great feeling."

Saturday's contest gets underway at 1 p.m. The winner gets the automatic bid from the HCAC to the NCAA Division III National Tournament. Transylvania defeated the College of Mount St. Joseph 5-0 on Tuesday.

Duchon (Decatur, GA, Decatur) got the Quakers started by scoring at 16:29 and 27:15 with Joy Doucette (Berwyn Heights, MD, Eleanor Roosevelt) assisting both plays.

"It sets the tone and that is what we try to do every game," Duchon said as she described the importance of scoring the first goal of the contest.

Paige Thomas (Bel Air, MD, Baltimore Friends School) scored what turned out to be the final goal of the match at 33:13 with Doucette picking up her third assist of the day, which gave the Quakers a 3-0 lead at intermission.

"It's hard to bounce back after you are down by three at half, so we put ourselves in a great position," Keller said. "Our confidence started to build and we started to calm down a little bit. We knew that it could work out in our favor."

Earlham led 9-6 in shots. Hanover had a 5-0 advantage in corner kicks, but the Panthers (11-7-1) never seriously challenged Earlham's defense.

"We were confident, but we knew Hanover was going to bring it to us, so we had to come out even stronger," Duchon said of the team's approach in the second period.

Earlham goalkeeper Megan Holthaus (Harrison, OH, McAuley) had two saves as she recorded a shutout for the 11th time this fall, which is a school record for a single-season. In addition to that mark, Holthaus now holds the all-time mark for shutouts with 23.

HCAC Tournament Notes

• As a team, the Quakers extended their school season records with 14 victories and shutouts with 12.

• Saturday's match will be Earlham's second chance to win a conference tournament crown. The Quakers fell 2-1 at Wittenberg University in last year's North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament final.

• Duchon is Earlham's all-time leading scorer with career totals of 54 goals, 33 assists and 141 points.

• Doucette put her name in the record book as well. With her three assists, she established a new standard for a season in that category with 12. 

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