Gustavus 1, UW-Stout 0 (Box) | Photo Gallery
ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College women’s soccer team earned a 1-0 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Stout on Wednesday afternoon at the Gustie Soccer Field. With the win, the Gusties improve to 10-4-1 overall, while the Blue Devils fall to 6-6-3.
“We knew we’d be evenly matched with UW-Stout,” said assistant coach Benton Frayne. “We came out a bit flat in the first half and couldn’t seem to find a rhythm. UW-Stout played well, especially in the first, but we were able to turn it around and pick up a nice win.”
The Gusties and Blue Devils played to a 0-0 tie in the first half, with UW-Stout controlling possession for a majority of the period, forcing Gustavus to rely heavily on its defenders.
“We brought in our back line this last week to look at video and make sure we were being smart with our communication,” said Frayne. “UW-Stout had a lot of movement up top that challenged us right away and we couldn’t seem to find our rhythm in that first half, which forced us to be a counter-attacking team. They were the better team in the first, but it’s always nice when we can rely on our back four and Ashley [Becker] to keep us in games.”
In the second half, the Gusties seemed to find their groove and began controlling the ball more consistently. Then, a UW-Stout foul at the 71:57 mark gave Gustavus defender Emily Odermatt (So., Minneapolis, Minn.) a free kick on the right side of the field and mere feet in front of the center line. Odermatt sent her kick soaring high towards the goal, the ball took a large bounce, and skipped over Blue Devil goalie Paige Meyer’s left shoulder and into the bottom left corner of the net, untouched by any other player. The goal was Odermatt’s second of the season and gave the Gustavus all it would need to come away with the win.
“We didn’t make any big adjustments at halftime, we just talked about getting back to what we do, which is playing the Gustie tempo, finding our feet, and finding a rhythm, which we were eventually able to do that second half,” said Frayne. “We controlled possession much more and worked the game back into our favor because we did the things that we do well in terms of tempo and movement, so that was great to see.”
Gustavus outshot UW-Stout 11-4 on the day, including a 7-3 mark on goal, and also held a 3-0 advantage in corner kicks. All of the Gustie corner kicks came in the second half.
Ashley Becker (Fy., Farmington, Minn.) reached the double digit mark in the win column on the season as the rookie ‘keeper picked up her 10th win between the posts after playing the full 90 minutes. Becker is now 10-4-1 on the year.
The Gusties will return to the field on Saturday for a conference matchup with St. Catherine University (9-5-1, 4-4-0 MIAC). A Gustavus win would clinch the program an MIAC playoff spot for the first time since the playoff system began in 2003.
“St. Catherine is a good team that has picked up some nice wins this season,” concluded Frayne. “It’ll definitely be a challenge, but if we come in, play our tempo right away, and are focused, we should have the opportunity to play another good game and hopefully pick up a win.”