ST. PETER, Minn. – Maddison Ackiss (Sr., Fairbanks, Alaska) recorded two goals to propel the Gustavus women’s soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Saint Mary’s University Wednesday afternoon at Gustie Soccer Field.
With the win the Gusties tallied their fifth of the season, moving to 5-2-2 overall and 2-2 in the MIAC. Saint Mary’s drops to 2-6-1 overall and 0-4 in the MIAC. The win also proves to be the first come from behind win of the season for the Gusties, and their fourth win at home to stay unbeaten at Gustie Soccer Field.
“We know every conference game is hard and it’s always great to play at home,” said Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie. “There’s something special about playing at home and our girls ended up pulling out the win, which is good to see.”
The Cardinals got on the board early just two and a half minutes into the game when Anna Taylor crossed the ball and Becca Dup converted for her third goal of the season.
Gustavus quickly moved forward after the early Cardinal goal as they were able to find the back of the net at the 18th minute mark. Ashley Becker (So., Farmington, Minn.) booted a ball past midfield and Ackiss ran past Saint Mary’s defenders to put away her second goal of the season. Becker’s assist was the first of her career.
“Coming from behind is always a daunting task so it was nice to be able to rebound from that. We made some adjustments in the first half and we started to figure some things out. In the second half we definitely created more dangerous opportunities for ourselves,” Burnett-Kurie said.
An even first half left the score tied at 1-1 as the Gusties and Cardinals registered three shots each.
In the second half the Black and Gold took control. At the 47th minute, Jana Elliott (Sr., Eagan, Minn.) notched her team-leading fourth assist of the season when she made a great through ball over the Cardinal defense to Ackiss, scoring her second goal of the game and third of the season which proved to be the game-winner.
“She’s (Ackiss) deadly, especially in the final third. It’s somehting where other teams are going to target that. It’s been nice so far this season that we have had so many people get on the scoresheet, so teams know that other people can score on the team. Now we have to continue to get her looks along with other players to balance it out,” Burnett-Kurie commented.
Ackiss led the Gusties with three shots on goal while Gustavus led Saint Mary’s in shots 7-4 and corner kicks 7-1.
Next up Gustavus hosts Carleton College Saturday for a homecoming matchup at 1 p.m.