MENOMONIE, Wis. – The Gustavus women’s soccer team defeated the University of Wisconsin-Stout 2-1 in a non-conference matchup Wednesday night.
Just two games ago last Saturday, Maddison Ackiss (Sr., Fairbanks, Alaska) powered the Gusties with a two-goal game in the win at Bethel. Ackiss proved to be lethal once again as she tallied two goals to lead Gustavus to victory. Ackiss’s team-leading sixth and seventh goals stand as her third two-goal game of the season and the sixth multi-goal game of her career.
With the win Gustavus improves to 8-5-2 overall while the Blue Devils fall to 5-8-1.
“Tonight was a great game for the team,” said Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie. “We started out strong, moving the ball very well and it paid off with a goal fairly early in the first half.”
The first goal came just seven minutes into the game when Emily Skogseth (So., Burnsville, Minn.) threaded the ball in behind to Ackiss for her sixth goal of the season. Skogseth’s helper was her third of the season.
The Gusties and the Blue Devils each posted three shots each as Gustavus left the first period leading 1-0.
At the 54th minute of the second period, Hannah Sturtz (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) notched her third assist of the season working hard to get around the outside of her defender and crossed the ball to Ackiss who recorded the eventual game-winning goal for the Gusties, her third game-winner of the season.
“Stout gained some momentum in the first half, but nothing that our team was unable to handle defensively. In the second half, we controlled the majority of play except when Stout made a strong push in the final ten minutes,” Burnett-Kurie commented.
UW-Stout made a strong push-back in the second half and cut the Gustie lead in half with 10 minutes to go in the match, but it wasn’t quite enough. Goalkeeper Ashley Becker (So., Farmington, Minn.) enjoyed strong play from the Gustie defensive unit as they only allowed two Blue Devils shots on goal. Becker recorded her eighth win of the season.
“We talked at the end of the game how it was a great overall performance, especially on the road on a weeknight,” Burnett-Kurie said. “The team is really starting to click on the field, which is great to see. We know what level we are able to play at, and now it’s about maintaining that urgency, work ethic, and desire to achieve it heading into our final three games. We made a commitment a couple weeks back to focus on finishing the conference strong and doing what we needed in order to make it to the conference tournament. We need to focus on one game at a time to achieve that goal.”
Gustavus looks to carry the momentum into the weekend and secure a MIAC Playoff spot with three conference games remaining in the regular season. The Gusties return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play Saturday afternoon as they travel to St. Paul, Minn. to take on St. Catherine University.