Our First Home Match: UW-La Crosse

After a difficult first two games out in Washington, it was great to open up our Midwest play at our home field this Saturday!  The weather was perfect for us to go out for a great game between the Gusties and the UW La Crosse Eagles.  The girls once again had improved immensely since their last two matches, playing a much higher-pressure style of play as well as moving the ball around much faster and building attacks from all over the field.

For a 0-0 end score, the game was as thrilling as could be, with shots coming left and right from the girls, as they managed to outshoot the Eagles 13-9, with many of those coming close from within the 18 yard box which barely evaded the goal. 

The opportunities began with a beautiful cross sent in by Maddison Ackiss from the left which found the foot of unmarked Heather Geoff, striking the ball on her first touch and nearly opening the score sheet early in the game.  Other big opportunities came later in the game when Coursey Edwards managed to beat the Eagles defender down the left side and whiz in a great ball across the top of the 6 yard box, nearly put away by freshman Molly Johnston, followed by a blocked rebounded by Sophie Leininger. The game had everybody on their feet until the final seconds, as Maddison was able to steal the ball off an Eagles defender’s foot with just 20 seconds left in the match, beating the final defender and putting herself in for a 1v1 breakaway with the goalkeeper who did a great job to prevent the goal from going in, unfortunately.

There was impressive play all over the field from the girls, stepping to the ball high in the midfield and preventing the Eagles from creating much possession buildup throughout the game, while the back line did a remarkable job keeping an ‘eagle eye’ on opposing strikers’ movement as they attempted to sneak in behind our defenders. 

The girls made amazing strides coming into this game and stepping up all around the field.  We’re excited to get another week of training in as we prepare for our next matchup as the girls travel to UW Eau Claire next Saturday to take on the BlueGolds.

Women’s Soccer Ties 0-0 In 2014 Home Opener

Posted on September 7th, 2014 by Nick Hoelmer

Coursey Edwards (So., Eden Prarie, Minn.) was part of an improved Gustie attack on Saturday afternoon.

St. Peter, Minn. – After a pair of losses to nationally ranked opponents last weekend at the Gettysburg College Invitational, the Gustavus women’s soccer team was looking for improvement in its game against UW-La Crosse on Saturday afternoon at the Gustie Soccer Field. Improvement they saw, and although they were not able to get on the scoreboard, the Gusties managed to secure a 0-0 tie against the Eagles after regulation and two overtime periods.

“It was night and day for us today compared to last weekend,” said head coach Laura Burnett-Kurie.

“It took us some time to get settled in, but once we did that, we started moving the ball and made some great runs. We were dangerous and we created opportunities, which was nice to see. We were able to find ourselves today and create a bit of an identity.”

Gustavus was able to outshoot UW-La Crosse 13-9 on the afternoon after only managing two shots in its two games against Carnegie Mellon and Gettysburg last weekend. Maddison Ackiss (So., Fairbanks, Alaska) had three of those shots, including one on goal in the final :20 seconds of regulation. Ackiss broke away from the Eagles’ back line and had just goalkeeper Ashley Tracy to beat, but Tracy was able to come up with the save to preserve the match and send it into overtime.

“Just from last weekend to today, we played with more intensity and improved so much,” said Burnett-Kurie. “That much improvement after just one week has me so excited because our ceiling is so high this year and it’s going to be really exciting moving forward, especially having another week of just practice before our next competition.”

In overtime, the Gusties stayed aggressive and booted four shots, two coming from Gustie first years Molly Johnston (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Sophie Leininger (Plymouth, Minn.) within a :30 second span.  Tracy was once again able to come away with two saves to keep the game knotted at 0-0. Heather Goff (Sr., Eagan, Minn.) and Brittany Chase (Jr., Victoria, Minn.) also assisted in the Gustie attack by each tallying two shots.

“We just need to keep getting more comfortable with the ball,” said Burnett-Kurie. “If we’re able to have more confidence with that, we’ll be able to take more chances moving off the ball.  By doing that, we’ll change how other teams play rather than us having to adjust to what they’re doing.”

Gustie goalkeeper Caroline Olson (Sr., York, Penn.) played all 110 minutes and made a total of four saves.  With the complete-match shutout, she moves to 0-1-1.

The Gusties will look to continue their improvement next weekend when they travel across the border to Eau Claire, Wisconsin to take on UW-Eau Claire next Saturday at 2:00 p.m.