University Chronicle Extras:
Movies
|
Rate a Pic
|
Horoscopes
|
Career
|
Scholarships
|
Travel
|
GradZone
News
Briefly
Calendar of Events
Commentary
Sports
Diversions
World News
Classifieds
Login
Letter Submission
Search
Archive
Publishing Policy
Mail Subscriptions
St. Cloud State University
College Publisher
Home
>
Sports
Husky soccer's 'W' over SMSU evens record
By Drew Sandholm
Published:
Monday, September 22, 2003
The SCSU soccer team picked up a 2-1 victory over the Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs Saturday in Marshall, thanks to some help from their first- year players.
Forward Trista Cooke scored her third goal of the season at the 11:52 mark to put SCSU on the board first. Cooke was assisted by third-year forward Heidi Westrum, who was the scoring leader for the Huskies with 18 points last season.
Westrum and Cooke have been an offensive powerhouse this year on the field where they've worked together to produce an even more efficient offense for SCSU.
"We really work off of each other, and just feel for each other (on the field)," Westrum said of Cooke. "I think as we play more and more together we will get even more comfortable and will hopefully score even more goals."
Battling up and down the pitch, the Mustangs made their way to Husky territory in a comeback attempt. Third-year SMSU forward, Nadia AbuAyed evened up the score with a goal from within the 18 at the 21:04 mark. That goal, coming only 10 minutes after Cooke's, was a product of a cornerkick by senior midfielder and St. Cloud native, Jenny Boman.
With the score tied and plenty of soccer left, the Mustangs' hunger for a win only grew. By creating space with many touch-and-go plays, the Mustangs managed to keep the ball on SCSU's side of the field for much of the first half.
SMSU's offense drove hard, outshooting the Huskies 11-3 until halftime. Figures like that can never be good for any defending goalie, but second-year Husky goalkeeper Stephanie Brendel took it in stride. She went on to help the Huskies with a game total of three saves, considerably less than her amazing 19 saves last year vs. Northern Colorado Sept. 26.
Extreme wind conditions provided for more challenges to Brendel, aside from an advancing Mustang offense.
"I was basically just hoping that my team could hear me," Brendel said. "The wind was extremely hard, so I was just hoping that if they couldn't, they'd just do a great job like they always do."
Even with the ball in the Mustangs' possession and a strong wind at their back, the Huskies had elevated their play until the referees called the half's end.
In the second half, the Huskies decided they wouldn't have SMSU in their end of the pitch anymore.
It was a new game, with a new side of the field and the heavy winds blowing to their advantage. The Husky defense showed their strength early on, as they limited the Mustangs down to just two shots until the end of the game.
"Defense was playing awesome," Brendel said. "I only had to touch the ball once the entire second half."
As the defense kept the ball away, the SMSU offensive sense of urgency quickly grew, as the game was still tied at 1-1.
First-year SCSU forward Anne Litecky, who was high school teammates with Cooke at Duluth East, made this realization and went on to single-handedly score the game winning goal for the Huskies at the 46:52 mark. With that point, Litecky scored her third goal of the season.
With a 4-3-1 record, the Huskies will stay at home next game to play against Winona State University (WSU) at Whitney field Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Their .500 average favors SCSU over the Warriors, who currently own a 1-6 record. Last year, the Huskies traveled to WSU to tie the Warriors 1-1 in overtime.
Forum:
No comments have been posted for this story.
Post a comment
