VALPARAISO, Ind. -- Indiana State and Valparaiso laid it all on the line in the regular season finale on Thursday afternoon (Oct. 25) under cold and cloudy skies. Indiana State got a equalizer goal in the 54th minute from super senior Katie Wells but Valpo scored four goals after ISU was forced to play down one to earn the 5-1 victory over the Sycamores.

ISU wraps the season with a 6-9-3, 0-6-1 MVC mark while Valpo finishes with a record of 5-8-3, 2-4-1 MVC. The Sycamores finished the year with four road victories -- the most for the program since 2012.

The storied career of senior forward Katie Wells (Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central HS) comes to a close after the game against Valparaiso. For the season, she finished with 12 goals scored which broke the previous school record of 10 set by Abby Reed in 2013. Her 31 points this season crushed the previous school record of 25 set by Lauren Podolski in 2006. She finished the year with a 1.72 points per game average which topped the previous best of 1.39 set by Podolski in the 2006 campaign. Her seven assists this season were tops in the Missouri Valley Conference and third-best ever at ISU. Wells is tied for the record with Podolski as she tallied nine assists back in 2016 as a sophomore. She is just the second Sycamore in the history of the program to record at least 30 shots on goal as her total of 33 is second-best at ISU.

Wells finished her career with 67 points which is second in program history and only three behind Podolski's school record of 70. She finished with a 0.96 points per match average for second-best at ISU. Wells finishes her career with 24 career goals scored which was only one shy of Podolski's school record of 25. Her 69 career shots on goal are also second-best ever for Indiana State. Additionally, her ISU career wraps with 19 assists which was just one behind Podolski's school record of 20. She finished her career with six game-winning goals, including two during her senior season. Wells scored a goal in each of her last five matches as a Sycamore.

In the early going, the Sycamores took control of the match on the offensive end as Wells owned three shots, including one on goal. But Valparaiso would score first when Cory Griffith dribbled inside the box on the left side of the pitch and snuck the ball past the Sycamore defense in the 41st minute for a 1-0 advantage.

It would not take long for the Sycamores to equalize the match as Wells was fouled in the penalty box during the 54th minute. She took full advantage of the opportunity as she fired the ball into the bottom right corner of the net to knot the match up at 1. It was Wells' second career PK opportunity and she is 2-of-2 in her career when awarded a penalty kick.

She had a good look at the net in the 65th minute when she fired one towards the goal off a free kick from 32 yards. She nearly slipped the ball past the goal keeper but it was deflected at the final second to keep the match tied at 1.

After the Sycamores were saddled with a red card in the 74th minute which allowed Valparaiso too score three times down the stretch. Griffith scored for the second time of the match one minute later to push the Crusaders ahead and they added scores in the 78th, 80th and 86th minutes for a 5-1 advantage.

The Crusaders held a 20-15 edge in shots, including a 8-6 cushion in shots on goal. Valparaiso held a 5-3 edge in corner kicks. Wells led the way offensively for the Sycamores with seven shots, including four on goal. Danielle Varner and Alise Emser each added a shot on goal in the match.