ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Gustie women’s soccer team got back into the win column tonight with a 2-1 victory over Northwestern. With the victory, the Gusties improve to 3-2 on the season while the Eagles fall to 1-3-2.
“We had a great team win tonight,” said Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie. “Our team battled against a strong and competitive Northwestern team. We had moments of great creativity and looked dynamic at times.”
The Gusties came out strong in the first half taking the lead early on a Katie Ashpole (So., Chaska, Minn.) goal in the 17th minute that was assisted by Abby Mullenbach (Jr., Lakeville, Minn.). The goal was Ashpole’s first on the season. The game remained 1-0 until nearly halftime when Rachel Rehnelt (Fy., Albert Lea, Minn.) scored what proved to be the game-winning goal off a throw-in that bounced over a UNW defender and Rehnelt chipped past the Eagles goalkeeper for 2-0 lead.
On the two goals, Burnett-Kurie said, “The first goal started with Lauren Johnson (So., Woodbury, Minn.) calmly winning the ball and finding Chase Miller (Sr., Brooklyn Park, Minn.), who did a great job playing our second runner, Abby who set up Katie on an exception pass and Katie was calm, cool and collected in her finish. Our second goal was the first scored by a first-year this season when Rachel followed in a 50/50 ball and had a great one time finish.”
The second half was a different story though as the Eagles outshot the Gusties by a tally of 7-4, but Leah Pavlish (Fy., Prior Lake, Minn.), starting her second match in net on the season, allowed just one goal on the night to secure the victory. Pavlish racked up six saves in the contest and recorded her first collegiate victory in the process.
“Leah had some great saves in net tonight,” Burnett-Kurie said. “Now we’re excited to get back on the road for our first conference game tomorrow.”
The Gusties will now begin their conference season as they travel to Moorhead, Minn. on Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest with Concordia.