The UW-Eau Claire women’s soccer team traveled to UW-La Crosse this Saturday as they faced the 11th-ranked Eagles. 

The Blugolds fell to their conference foe 0-3 after the Eagles were able to get on the board early, scoring twice in the first half with goals at the 12th minute and the 26th minute.

UW-La Crosse scored their third and final goal during the 69th minute of the game. 

Paige Crawford, second-year defenseman, said that she knew important conference points were on the line but didn’t want that to phase the team. 

“We came into the game knowing that three points were on the line and (we) needed to play Blugold soccer,” Crawford said. “We did not want their status to impact our mentality and performance.”

Head coach Sean Yengo said that while their initial game plan heading into the match didn’t play out, the defense still played well. 

“We knew going in that we wouldn’t have a ton of chances to score, and that was the case,” Yengo said. “Defensively I thought we had a good game and stuck to our game plan. We just didn’t defend their corner kicks very well.”

Despite the loss, third-year forward Elise Pinewski said the team is ready to use the lessons they learned from the game to bounce back for the next matchups. 

“After the loss, there’s not much more we could do but look forward to our next two conference matches,” Pinewski said. “Losing is disappointing, but it shows us the areas we need to grow in and, vice versa, the areas we succeed.”

While the week ended on a low note, the team pulled off a win earlier in the week at home against Bethel University on Tuesday, beating the Royals 3-0.

The Blugolds got on the board early as Taylor Czarapata, first-year forward, scored in the fifth minute, her first career goal at UW-Eau Claire. 

Pinewski added to the lead with a goal in the 54th minute putting the Blugolds up 2-0 early in the second half. She also assisted on the third goal of the game a few minutes later, a shot scored by third-year forward Molly Henderson.

“When I was subbed in against Bethel, I went in with a confidence I had been lacking in other games, and it felt great to have it pay off with a goal and an assist,” Pinewski said. “Both plays were the result of practicing these things over and over again.”

With two conference games to look towards this week, Crawford said she is ready to use the lessons they’ve learned from the previous games to push forward. 

“We are going to instill lessons from previous games and utilize them this upcoming week,” Crawford said. “Our main focus is on the next 6 points that we strive to earn. We will watch the film and work on tactics in practice to enable us to move forward.”

The Blugolds are back on the road this coming Wednesday as they head to UW-River Falls for another conference matchup. Game time is 3 p.m. at Ramer Soccer Stadium. 

Finishing off the regular season, the team will head back home on Saturday for a senior night game against UW-Stout starting at 2 p.m. on Simpson Field. 

Hokanson can be reached at [email protected].