Menomonie, Wis. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s soccer team dug itself into an early hole and was defeated 6-2 by UW-Stout in its final non-conference game of the season on Wednesday evening at Nelson Field. With the loss, Gustavus falls to 1-11-3 overall, while UW-Stout boosted its record to 4-8-3 with the victory.
It took the Gusties a little more than 70 minutes to find the scoreboard, but by that time the damage was done, as the Blue Devils had already built a 5-0 lead. Lauren Kizlik recorded her first career hat trick for the home team. Kizlik took six shots on the evening, missing on her first three, but burying her final three. Kizlik’s goals came in the 27th, 57th and 59th minutes of the game, with her sister, Jenna, assisting on her second.
Laura Johnson (Fy., Chanhassen, Minn.) scored her first collegiate goal for Gustavus in the 71st minute to cut the Blue Devil lead to 5-1. However, UW-Stout’s Bethany Hanson countered with a goal in the 85th minute to bring the Blue Devil lead back to five. Then, with just 48 seconds remaining in the game, Valerie Belanger (Sr., Zimmerman, Minn.) became the second Gustie on the night to score her first goal of the season when she punched in a near post shot at 89:22.
“Our two highlights on the night were Laura earning her first career goal due to hard work and tenacity and Valerie scoring a fantastic near post upper ninety shot after great combination play to get into the box,” said head coach Laura Burnett-Kurie.
Roisen Granlund (So., St. Paul, Minn.) saw her record fall to 0-3-0 on the season after allowing six goals and making two saves.
Gustavus will finish its season with three consecutive MIAC games, with its next coming on Saturday afternoon against Augsburg College. That game will be at 1 p.m. on the Gustie Soccer Field.