Beth read this.
After coming tantalizingly close to picking up a season-opening win over 16th-ranked California Friday night, the Wisconsin women’s soccer team picked up its first victory of the 2003 season Sunday with a 3-1 win over St. Mary’s (Calif.).
The victory gave the Badgers a 1-1 record at the Cal Invitational after falling to the host Bears 2-1 two nights earlier. UW also improved to 1-1 overall on the season.
“Our players performed well playing under a little pressure, needing to get a win this weekend,” Wisconsin head coach Dean Duerst said.
Wisconsin missed out on first-half scoring opportunities against Cal but made their efforts pay off against St. Mary’s, jumping out to a 2-0 halftime lead.
Katy Lindenmuth got the Badgers on the board first at the 29:31 mark with her first goal of the season. The sophomore took a cross from senior Jenny Kundert and beat Gael goalkeeper Alicia Artuso from eight yards out to give UW the 1-0 lead.
Wisconsin got a key insurance goal with just 10 seconds remaining in the first half as Sarah Capel scored unassisted. The junior worked her way through the St. Mary’s defense before ripping a shot from 10 yards out.
“That was an important time for us to score,” Duerst said. “It gave us a little room to work with.”
The Gaels cut the Badgers’ lead to 2-1 at the 74:30 mark on a goal by Lucianne Crenshaw. Wisconsin wasted little time in responding. Just 57 seconds later, junior Marla Froelich took a feed from Kundert. Froelich’s initial shot caromed off the goalpost right back to her and she beat Artuso to complete the game’s scoring.
“Any momentum that they started to have, we took away,” said Duerst, who was able to take a number of positives away from his team’s performance over the weekend.
“I think it’s a great beginning in what we were able to learn while playing against quality teams. We felt we’ve played two quality opponents. We can learn a lot from this weekend.”
– compiled from staff reports
