Senior Celebrations!

This past weekend was filled with many emotions. While playing Macalester, we showed guts and grit to pull out the win. In her last game of her career, the incredible Lucy Thompson scored a fantastic goal about 10 minutes into the game. Everyone was going crazy we were all so happy!! It was great to finish out the season with two shutout wins and to be able to celebrate the end of the season with our wonderful wonderful seniors who were such incredible leaders and teammates.

SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s soccer team ended its season Saturday on a high note, shutting out Macalester 1-0 on Senior Day to finish 6-12 overall and 4-7 in the MIAC.

Lucy Thompson (Sr., Edina) scored her second career goal in her 56th and final game, which proved to be the only score of the game. Katie Ashpole (Jr., Chaska) assisted on the goal 5:12 into the game to finish the season with a team-high 12 points.

“It was very fitting for Lucy to come back from what we thought was a season-ending injury to score the game-winning goal in her final game,” Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie said. “It was great to see the fight that everyone had to make sure we got the result we needed today.”

The Gustie defense was stingy all game by not allowing a shot on goal. The Gusties took 14 shots. Today was the first time Gustavus has not allowed a shot on goal since Oct. 23, 2013 in a 4-0 win at Buena Vista.

Gustie keeper Ashley Becker (Sr., Farmington) finishes her career as the program’s all-time saves lead with 397. She accumulated an overall record of 39-31-8 and started all 78 games in her four seasons on the pitch.

“This year we had a lot of ups and downs,” Burnett-Kurie said. “We had a long stretch where we played well but didn’t get the results to show it. We kept at it and stay focused. We kept believing and it was great to go 4-2 over our final six games. It speaks volumes to the leadership this senior class provided the entire season. When we think about how our team evolved over the past two months, our seniors left us in a great place to continue to build towards playoffs next year.”

Shutout Win!!!

Wow, what a great game day!! Playing Hamline was a blast! There were so many awesome moments from a variety of players. Both players with their first career goals, Taylor Hemme and Jordan Whalen shined bright with two stunning goals during the second half. There were also a lot of great defensive moments in our game including Ashley Becker holding out the shutout! Overall, it was a great environment and an even better win!!

               

SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s soccer team Wednesday won its final road game of the season 3-0 at Hamline. The Gusties improve to 5-12 overall and 3-7 in the MIAC, while the Pipers fall to 5-11 overall and 1-9 in the league.

“This was a great team win,” Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie said. “We had some players step up in big ways and we were able to ride the highs and lows of the game very well.”

Gustavus benefitted on an own goal 1:50 into the contest and held the one-goal advantage throughout the first half.

“We started the game with some great possession, being patient, moving the ball well,” Burnett-Kurie said. “Hamline adjusted well to start the second half and we were on our heels for a while, but did well to fight and battle to keep them from tying it up. We made some great adjustments and our players adapted well. We started to find new pockets of space and created quite a few dangerous opportunities.”

In the 74th minute, Taylor Hemme (Jr., Eden Prairie) scored her first career goal with the help of Page Cocchiarella (Jr., Owatonna). Hemme won a ball in the Gusties’ attacking half, found Rachel Rehnelt (So., Albert Lea), who then passed to Cocchiarella for a partial breakaway against the Hamline center back. Cocchiarella sent a cross 12 yards away from the goal to Hemme who took a touch and tapped it past the Piper keeper.

With less than eight minutes remaining in regulation, Jordan Whalen (Fy., Owatonna) also tallied her first career score with an assist from Hemme. Hemme slotted the ball through the back line to Whalen who took a touch to beat the defender and finished with a simple shot to the right side of the net.

Ashley Becker (Sr., Farmington) earned the shutout victory in goal, making 11 saves. The Gusties outshot the Pipers 13-7.

“Ashley Becker came up with some big saves and our entire team battled hard defensively,” Burnett-Kurie said. “Lauren Johnson had some outstanding moments. We are excited to continue to build off of this win and finish out the season on a high note on Saturday for our senior game.”

Traveling up North

It was a tough loss for the Gusties on a chilly day at Concordia Moorhead. Even though we had opportunities, Concordia was able to stay strong after scoring their goal in the first half and hold the shutout. Once again, our wonderful Ashley Becker came up big for us many times throughout the game and showed how awesome she is as a leader and goalkeeper!

              

MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s soccer team dropped a 1-0 decision at Concordia on Saturday afternoon. The Gusties are now 4-12 overall and 2-7 in the MIAC, while the Cobbers improve to 9-7 overall and 2-7 in the league.

Concordia scored the lone goal of the game at the 14:07 mark. The Cobbers edged the Gusties in shots 11-10. Both teams had four corner kicks. Ashley Becker (Sr., Farmington) made five saves in goal.

Back to Back Game Days!

Wiz Bud Celebrations!!

On Sunday afternoon, the Gusties came together again to host UM-Morris. Everybody was eager to fight through another battle and pull out a win. This game was filled with creative opportunities and many chances to score some sick goals. The brilliant Maddie McDermott scored two goals for us and the amazing Kari Cammerer scored our third goal to give us the dub!! It was great to see these two awesome players shine as well as a handful of other players who showed some really great moments throughout the game!

SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s soccer team played host to Minnesota-Morris Sunday afternoon and defeated the Cougars 3-0. With the win the Gusties moved to 4-11 overall while the Cougars move to 4-8.

“Today’s game was great for us as we got to play a majority of our roster,” said Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie. “We had a lot of firsts as well today with Kari [Cammerer] (Jr., Savage) and Maddie [McDermott] (Jr., Mendota Heights) both scoring their first collegiate goals and Annika [Lewis] (Fy., Hudson, Wis.) with her collegiate point. We played people in some slightly different positions and they handled the moment very well. Another emphasis for us was about being creative in the attack and they really showed that in the second half.”

The Gusties offense was in full attack mode today as they outshot Morris 35-2 in the contest. The Gusties got their first goal in the 33rd minute of the first half when Lauren Johnson (Jr., Woodbury) took a corner that McDermott was able to head in the right side of the net for the goal.

Gustavus took their 1-0 lead to half and came out strong in half two as Lewis took a shot that was blocked that McDermott was able to clean up for her second goal of the game in the 48th minute. The Gusties got one in the 70th minute, as Page Cocchiarella (Jr., Owatonna) played a through ball up ahead to Cammerer who had just the goalie to beat as she found the left side of the net to give the Gusties the 3-0 lead that held out for a final.

Ashley Becker (Sr., Farmington) got the win in net making one save in the contest.

“We’re excited to finish out the season strong and hopefully continue to put the ball in the back of the net and pick up a few more shutouts,” said Burnett-Kurie. “Overall it was a great team performance today.”

Conference Clash

Our game against Carleton was a HUGE battle. It was constant back and forth excitement and a very aggressive environment. The game remained scoreless until Carleton was able to finish a penalty kick in the first half of overtime. Despite the loss, we were proud of the effort put in and excited to get back out on the field to shine at our next game!

               

SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s soccer team played host to Carleton on Saturday and fell in overtime by a score of 1-0. With the loss the Gusties fall to 3-11 overall and 2-6 in the conference, while the Knights improve to 8-2-3 overall and 5-1-2 in the MIAC.

The Knights controlled the contest early on, possessing the ball in their half for a large majority of the game. The two teams played scoreless for the first 90 before Carleton broke the ice in the first overtime period for the game winning goal. The Knights were awarded a penalty kick and Ashley Becker (Sr., Farmington), who made nine saves in the loss, dove the right way on the try but the ball went just passed her outstretched arms on the left side of the net for the Carleton victory.

The Knights outshot Gustavus in the contest 15-0 and had five corners to just two for the Gusties.