The women’s soccer team won two more games this weekend, improving their current win streak to eight games in the process.
On Saturday the team defeated UW-River Falls 2-1 and followed it up with a 1-0 victory over Luther College (Iowa) on Sunday. The eight-game winning streak eclipses last year’s season best of seven, and is the longest since 2006.
Senior Ali Mater was happy with the way things turned out over the weekend, but thinks there is still room to improve.
“I think overall we did well, there were a few slumps and a goal scored on us, but overall we did ok and we could have done a little better,” Mater said. “At least we won the games though.”
The team jumped out to a quick lead against River Falls when freshman Allie Stone grabbed the lead for the Blugolds in the second minute. It was the third goal of the season for Stone and was assisted by sophomore Shyla Gilbertson and freshman Paige LeGate.
Eau Claire outshot River Falls 11-4 in the half, but was unable to add to their lead until after the break.
Finally, in the 56th minute, junior Rachel Nerison headed a ball towards the goal that ended up in the back of the net and brought the lead to two. It was Nerison’s team-leading sixth goal of the season, and came on an assist from freshman Kara Ryan.
Mater said that although it took the team a while to increase the lead, she was not very worried about it.
“I feel like maybe we just weren’t connecting all the way, and it took us a while to get back into the rhythm,” Mater said. “We had shots and just couldn’t put them away.”
After conceding a goal in the 73rd minute, the team eventually finished the job, pulling out a 2-1 victory over their conference foe.
On Sunday Eau Claire faced another close match, this time against Luther College.
Although the Blugolds outshot Luther 17-6 in the game, they had a hard time converting their opportunities into goals.
After a scoreless start to the game, Eau Claire broke the draw in the 32nd minute on a score from senior Jamie Schiesel. The goal was the assisted by junior Brittany Burant and was the first of the season for Schiesel.
