“We were ready. We knew that we could keep control of the game,” Emily Sullivan, a fourth-year center and midfielder, said.

The women’s soccer team won their game against the UW-La Crosse Eagles on Saturday Oct. 26, as La Crosse had defeated them in the WIAC championship last season, Sullivan said.

Now the team prepares to face UW-Whitewater on Wednesday, Oct. 30.

The win on Saturday was described as “an amazing feeling” by Anna Sveiven, a third-year goalkeeper.

The loss they suffered against La Crosse in the WIAC last year was a tough loss, Sullivan said.

“To be able to get the win (Saturday) was definitely exciting for the team as a whole,” Sullivan said.

The team hopes to go on to win the WIAC this year, which the team hasn’t done since 2008, Sveiven said.

Throughout the game, the Eagles took 19 shots on goal while the Blugolds took just 13. Each team came up with eight saves apiece.

The Blugolds scored two goals in the first half, while the Eagles were scoreless; however, the Eagles would return in the second half to score one point.

To ensure the Eagles would not tie the game, the team kept their confidence high and did not let one goal bring them down, Sullivan said.

After this game, the team sits at 12-5 in the full season and 3-2 in the WIAC.

What helped the team to succeed was a combination of things. A lot of it was on and off the ball confidence, as well as their ability to pass and stay in control of the ball while “executing the plan,” Sullivan said.

“During the whole week of practice, we had a game plan to try and control the game, you know, to continue to play our game,” Sveiven said.

Sveiven said that the goal was to keep the Eagles in a situation where they were trying to beat the Blugolds and not the other way around.

Now, the team is preparing for a game against UW-Whitewater on Wednesday.

“It’s pretty essential … pretty crucial actually,” Sullivan said.

The game was supposed to take place on Oct. 5, but it had been raining for several hours before the game and the field was deemed unplayable, postponing the game until this week.

The reason the game is so important is because the outcome affects their seed in the tournament, Sullivan said.

Because they are a great team, it would have been great to have the game earlier in the season so that in case they lost, they would get knocked down and get back up, but these are just the cards they’re dealt, Sveiven said.

The game against La Crosse happened to be on Senior Day. Sullivan, who has been captain for two years, is the only graduating senior on the team.

Being able to have a full four years of experience on the team and holding her leadership position for two years has allowed her to teach younger players and help them be more successful on and off the field, Sullivan said.

“I feel pretty grateful to be able to do that,” Sullivan said.

When thinking about who will step up and lead the team next year when Sullivan is gone, the team does not look to any one person, Sveiven said.

“We lead each other … I think we’re all leaders in one way or another,” Sveiven said.

Plueger can be reached at [email protected].