The Lady Bearcats were unable to end the 2009 campaign on a high note, as visiting Houghton College handed SVC a 6-0 defeat in the season finale on the Bearcat Turf.

The Highlanders put their strong offense on display from the outset, taking the early 1-0 lead just six minutes into play when Rachel Stefanski slammed home a one-timer on the doorstep.

Houghton's Ashley Hoffman then scored a pair of goals in a ten-minute spand, first directly off of a corner, and then on a scramble in front, to put the visitors on top 3-0 with 10 minutes remaining in the opening half.

The score remained 3-0 for the next 30 minutes, as the Lady Bearcat defense withstood a number of Houghton charges over the majority of the second half, with SVC goalie Jackie Novak making seven second half saves.   Unfortunately, the Lady Bearcat offense was unable to muster any long, sustained attacks, while Houghton added on three insurance goals over the final 14 minutes of play to cruise to the 6-0 win.

For the game, SVC was out-shot 26-3, and Houghton also owned a 16-0 advantage in penalty corners.  Novak played all 70 minutes on goal, finishing with nine saves in the losing effort.

The defeat wrapped up the Lady Bearcats' season with a 6-12 overall record, and the six wins are the second most achieved in a single season by the team in its five-year existence. 

It was also the final game in the careers of SVC's senior class of Novak, Judy Spelz, Rachel Hill, Maryellen Baverso, Katie Benedict, and Lauren Scheloske.

Photo: SVC's Rachel Hill gets tangled up with a Houghton player in the Lady Bearcats' season finale