SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s soccer team was back in action on Wednesday and dropped a hard fought contest to the Oles of St. Olaf by a score of 2-1. With the loss the Gusties move to 4-4-1 on the season with a 1-2-1 conference record while the Oles move to 5-2-1 and 3-1 in the MIAC.
The Oles got off to a quick start in the contest punching in a goal in the 16th minute to take the early advantage. St. Olaf held their lead through halftime but in the 66th minute Lauren Johnson (So., Woodbury, Minn.) got a rebound off a Gustie shot and laced a perfect kick from outside the box into the top right corner of the net for a goal. It was Johnson’s second goal of the season and tied the game at one apiece. It didn’t take long after though for St. Olaf to respond as they got a breakaway and chipped a pass across the field for an easy tap in goal to seal the 2-1 victory. Abby Goodno (Fy., Little Canada, Minn.) got the start in net and tallied nine saves while allowing two goals. Her record in net for the Gusties will now move to 3-3-1.
On the contest, coach Laura Burnett-Kurie said, “We are in a really competitive stretch of games right now. We were on the wrong side of two close games, but those are the ones we can learn from and build on in order to continue to accomplish our goals for the season. We are incredibly excited for our home matchup versus Augsburg on Saturday as it’s our Hill Crew game so we hope to see endless fans.”
The next action for the Gusties will be on Saturday when they play host to Augsburg for 1 p.m. contest at the Gustie Soccer Field.