Senior co-captain Jana Elliott scored the game-winner for the Gusties.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s soccer team was guided by three-goals in the second period to capture a road win from St. Catherine University Saturday afternoon.
The Gustie’s fourth win on the road pushed their overall record to 9-5-2 (5-4 MIAC), while the Wildcats fall to 9-5-1 (4-4-1 MIAC).
“Today was a big win for us,” said Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie. “The team came out ready to fight and they did just that. We gave up an early goal, but the team kept their heads and continued to fight. Everyone did their jobs and more, which helped us get our results. It was a physical battle, but we moved the ball well and were relentless in our attack.”
St. Catherine got on the scoresheet first, just under three minutes into the six-goal game. Kaitlin Machovec tallied her third goal of the season to give the Wildcats an early lead. An own goal by St. Kate’s at the 33rd minute allowed the Gusties to even the score at 1-1, which stood as the score after one period of play.
Gustavus stepped up the second half and took a 3-1 lead with goals from Maddison Ackiss (Sr., Fairbanks, Alaska) and Jana Elliott (Sr., Eagan, Minn.). Ackiss posted her team-leading eighth goal of the season and Elliott notched her second goal of the season as well as her first point in seven games. Emily Skogseth (So., Burnsville, Minn.) and Hannah Sturtz (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) each added helpers on the goals.
Moments later St. Kate’s cut the Gustie lead to 3-2 as Machovec scored her second goal of the game from a header off a corner kick. However, around five minutes later Gustavus would wipe out the Wildcat’s comeback hopes with more contributions from Skogseth and Sturtz. Skogseth fed Sturtz who put a shot high-corner past St. Kate’s goalkeeper to seal a 4-2 victory for the Black and Gold. The four goals is the most by the Gusties during a conference game this season.
In the past five games, Skogseth and Sturtz have each tallied five points. Skogseth’s two assists today stands as a career-high and a goal and assist for Sturtz is also a career-high three points.
Gustavus outshot St. Kate’s 19-17, while the Wildcats led the Gusties in corner kicks 5-4. Goalkeeper Ashley Becker (So., Farmington, Minn.) made seven saves to record her ninth win of the season. Her 80 saves on the season is tied for the MIAC lead.
“Now we have to focus on finishing our the regular season,” Burnett-Kurie commented. “The MIAC is always super tight which means we need to focus on the last two games, both of which will be tough battles, in order to give us a spot in the playoffs. No game is an easy game in our conference.”
Gustavus has just two regular season games remaining on the schedule and returns home for senior day to take on Concordia College Tuesday afternoon at Gustie Soccer Field.