Two wins highlighted last week for the women’s soccer team here at Northwestern. Unfortunately this success was followed by three losses.
The first win came against Mount Marty in Yankton, S.D., 2-1. The initial goal was made by junior Ashley Trail and was unassisted. The second goal came from senior Becca Bruns with an assist by sophomore Hannah Taylor.
This preceded their win against Concordia on the home field with the score ending at 2-1. In this game both goals were made by junior Katy Phillips. The first unassisted and the second off of a corner kick. Following this was a 0-3 loss against Upper Iowa, a 1-4 loss to Dakota Wesleyan and this week’s 0-1 loss to Sioux Falls.
In the Dakota Wesleyan game the goal was pounded in by senior Becca Bruns on a penalty kick and junior Annaliese Frye attempted five shots for the team. Frye continued to lead the team in shots by contributing three more against Sioux Falls while junior Jennifer Cantwell made six saves as goalie.
The team’s record is now at 3-12-1 and coach Blake Wieking believes that this does not reflect the improvement that the players have made throughout the season.
One major improvement seen is that “a lot of players begin to make smarter and quicker decisions out on the field,” Wieking said.
This year the team had to get used to a new style of play and many new players, but he has seen improvement in the team’s defense despite this. The team has goals for both the offensive players and those on defense. The offense works to produce more of a threat in games while the defense continues to put forth a great effort.
You can see the team fulfill another goal of becoming more aggressive in their final game of the season at Doane at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31st.