Augsburg: 1-0

Bouncing back from a tough loss against UW-Stout, the girls came out guns blazing this Saturday in a very closely fought battle against Augsburg College.  It was defensive battle, as we had 2 new outside backs playing against a side that is very strong with attacking at pace along with outsides.  The girls did an absolute fantastic job holding strong in the back though, holding very tight and staying very well connected as a unit, holding the Auggies scoreless until late in the game where Augsburg was able to transition out very well and create a quick opportunity to score.

The girls attacked very well, ending with a shot advantage of 11-9 over the Auggies, forcing their defense to come up with numerous big stops as well as keeping their goalkeeper on her toes for all 90 minutes of the match.  Freshman Molly Johnston and junior Brittany Chase managed to combine very well coming into the attacking third and make themselves extremely dangerous, especially with the constant movement and attacking prowess of striker Maddisson Ackiss and sophomore attacker Jana Elliott repeatedly putting the Augsburg back line under pressure and whipping balls across their penalty box into dangerous areas.

The tides of the game certainly went back and fourth, and the match could’ve gone either way.  Even the play resulting in the Augsburg goal began with a Gustie attack containing 3 dangerous shots on target that happened to continue into a fine Augsburg counterattack ending with a goal against us.  We’re continuing to push into the attack more though, and we couldn’t be happier with the work rate put fourth by the girls coming into these tough matches and really battling it out all 90 minutes, making any opponent really fight to earn any points out of the match.

Late Goal Sinks Women’s Soccer, Falls 1-0 To Augsburg

Posted on October 25th, 2014 by Ethan Armstrong

The Gustavus women's soccer team fell to Augsburg 1-0 on Saturday in St. Peter.  Photo courtesy of CJ Siewert - Sport PiX

St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s soccer team suffered a hard-fought 1-0 loss to Augsburg College on Saturday afternoon at the Gustie Soccer Field. Although the Gusties played with and challenged the MIAC title contender for the duration of the match, a goal by Molly Allen in the 74th minute proved to be all the Auggies needed to earned the one-goal victory. Gustavus drops to 1-12-3 overall and 0-7-2 in the MIAC, while Augsburg improves to 12-4-0 overall and 7-2-0 in the MIAC.

“Despite today’s loss, I’m happy with our performance,” said Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie. “Even though we’ve had some injuries late in the season that have forced some players to play in positions that they are not used to, we were able to compete and create several dangerous opportunities.”

Following a scoreless first half that saw Augsburg with a 6-3 shots advantage, the game looked to be destined for overtime as the second half progressed. After Gustavus put several shots on goal, Augsburg countered with the eventual game-winner when Molly Allen scored her second goal of the season off an assist from Carter Denison.

“Augsburg’s goal came off a fantastic individual effort by an outstanding player,” commented Burnett-Kurie,” but just :20 seconds before we created several good looks and had them on their heels. We generated opportunities to score and hung with one of the top teams in the conference ­– that was great to see at this point of the season.”

By the end of the game, Gustavus turned the tide and finished with an 11-to-9 lead in shots. Augsburg had the upper hand in corner kicks 4-to-1.

Rosen Granlund (So., St. Paul, Minn.) suffered the complete-game loss in net after making five saves. Augsburg’s Marissa Guillou earned the complete-match win after making six saves.

Coach Burnett-Kurie credits her team’s performance to its resolve and perseverance under difficult circumstances. “It all came down to pride and winning the one-on-one battles,” she said. “We talked before the game about winning those battles and taking pride in the fact that you’re going to take it upon yourself to win those challenges. ‘Are you going to be better than them, or are they going to be better than you?’ They went into today’s game with that mentality, stuck in, and showed a lot of Gustie pride.”

The Gustavus women’s soccer team will be back in action on Wednesday, Oct. 29 when it travels to Arden Hills, Minnesota for a 3:30 p.m. contest against Bethel University.