Season Opener: 2-2 Tie with Eau Claire

Today was the hottest day of preseason and, of course, we had our first game of the year.  We kicked off the season with a game verse University of Wisconsin Eau Claire at Gustavus this afternoon.  It was a hard fought battle from the first whistle until the last, which was 110 minutes later after two overtime periods.

 We started out well creating a very dangerous scoring opportunity in the first couple minutes of the game, however Eau Claire rebounded well scoring two quick goals off turnovers in the first 11 minutes of the game.  We found our Gustie Tempo quickly afterwards, getting on the board by a fantastic thru-ball from Sophie Leininger to Brittany Chase who calmly shot the ball over the oncoming goalkeeper.  A few minutes later the same dynamic duo linked up again with Chase burying a curling left footed shot into the upper ninety.

For the remaining 80 minutes of regulation and extra time, we were able to create numerous dangerous opportunities but unable to put the ball in the back of the net for a third time.  Brittany Chase had another wonderful left footed opportunity in the 96th minute which went just high over the crossbar.  In the second overtime period, Emily Skogseth played a dangerous ball over the top for Sophie Leininger who one timed her shot far post but it didn't quite have enough on it to get past the diving Eau Claire goalkeeper.  All in all, it was a very hard fought battle and a great way to start of the 2015 season!

Read more about the game in the Gustavus Athletics recap below courtesy of gustavus.edu/athletics:

Women's Soccer Plays To Tie With UW- Eau Claire In Season Opener

Posted on September 1st, 2015 by CJ Siewert

Senior Captain Brittany Chase scored both of Gustavus' goals in the tie game (Photo courtesy of AJ Dahm, SPX Sports).

The Gustavus Adolphus women's soccer team today played a 2-2 tie with the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in its season opener at the Gustie Soccer Field.

The Gusties trailed 2-0 after eight minutes of play, but senior captain Brittany Chase (Victoria, Minn.) ended the shutout with a goal at the 12:34 mark.  Play resumed for another 10 minutes until Chase tallied her second score of the game with 22:42 left in the half.

"I cut in with my left and I saw the goalie was coming out so i chipped it over into the top left of the net," Chase said of her first goal.  "On the second goal, Sophie [Leininger] was dribbling at the top of the 18 [yard mark] and she kind of lost control so i stepped in and chipped it up again."

Sophie Leininger (Plymouth, Minn.) assisted on both of Chase's goals.

Gustavus and UW-Eau Claire played evenly throughout the game as each team had 17 shots on goal.  The Gusties took egiht shots in the first period, five in the second, one in the first overtime and three in the final 10 minutes of play.

In her first collegiate match, first-year goalkeeper Ashley Becker (Farmington, Minn.) was tested with eight shots on goral and made six saves in 110 minutes of play.

"It was good to see that after making some mistakes in the beginning we were still able to bounce back and really find the possession and play well for the rest of the game," Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie said.  "We were able to create a lot of opportunities for ourselves, which was good to see out of our offense."

The Gusties move to 0-0-1 overall and travel to Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa on Sept. 5 for a 1 p.m. match against the Knights.