The Wisconsin women’s soccer team fell Sept. 2 to Colorado College, 2-1, at Stewart Field in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Badgers drop to 1-1 after the Tigers’ (1-1) first win of the year.
“I really want to give a lot of credit to Colorado College,” head coach Dean Duerst said. “They played with a lot of heart and a lot of intensity. They played together as a team better than we did.”
Cortney Kitchen put the Tigers on the board first, rocketing the ball near the goalpost in the first half. The Badgers outshot the Tigers 17-8 and fired more corner kicks, 10-3, but couldn’t get enough quality chances.
Wynter Pero capitalized on one of the Badgers’ chances, scoring off a Badger free kick in the second half. Assisted by UW rookie Kristen Betz, Pero tied the game with her first goal of the season. However, the 1-1 score didn’t last long. CC’s Molly Shea broke the even score two minutes later with the game winner.
“It’s just a real tough loss,” Duerst said. “But it’s only the second game of the season, and it taught us some things that will help us down the line.”
Last Friday night, the Badgers found success against Colorado to snag their first victory of the season. The Badgers (1-0) took the lead in the first half and responded quickly to two Colorado (0-1) goals to pick up the win, 4-2.
“We had a balanced team effort,” Duerst said. “Everybody played their role, and the initial play was nice. We still need to work on things, but some young players did a very good job.”
Badger rookie Amy Vermeulen (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) put Wisconsin on the board in the opening half with the first goal of her collegiate career. Vermeulen scored at 31:35; she was assisted by sophomore Jenny Kundert and senior Natalie Roedler.
In a five-goal second half, Colorado’s Jessica Wollow started the scoring deluge at 57:17 with a diving header to tie the game, 1-1. At about the 58th minute, CU looked to take a 2-1 lead when Heather Zonker lined up for a penalty kick against her former Arapahoe High School teammate, Badger goalkeeper Kelly Conway. Conway came away with the save and helped turn the momentum back to Wisconsin.
Three minutes later, senior Kelly Kundert, assisted by sister Jenny, put the Badgers back on top.
“It was a nice sister-to-sister combination,” Duerst said. “It’s just one of those things.”
The Buffs continued to battle, tying the game again off of an Aimee Bugay goal at 71:35. However, the Badgers answered quickly as sophomore Tia Dale scored the game winner two-and-a-half minutes later. Sophomore Lisa Himrod assisted on the goal.
–compiled from staff reports
