Last weekend was a big one for the Lawrence University Women’s Soccer team. Two hard-fought home games resulted in a tie and a win, bringing the Vikings’ record to (3-5-2, 1-1-2 MWC).
On Saturday, Oct. 4, Illinois College (7-3-1, 1-1-1 MWC) arrived at Whiting Field West to challenge Lawrence amid cold temperatures and wet conditions. After 10 minutes of play, senior Keli Muchowski put Lawrence’s first goal on the board off an assist by freshman Ryan Berkley.
It didn’t take long for the Illinois College (IC) Lady Blues to retaliate, however. At 18:40, Illinois snuck the ball into the Lawrence net to even the score at 1-1.
But Lawrence was determined to keep the lead and doubled their score before the end of the first half. Junior Liza Girsova fired the Vikings’ second goal at 32:43, assisted by sophomore Sarah Zaccarine.
Lawrence went into the second half with a 2-1 lead, but were unable to keep the Lady Blues away from the goal. Illinois College again leveled the score 20 minutes into the half after a corner kick, leaving a 2-2 tie on the scoreboard for the teams to wrestle with through two overtime periods.
Despite working hard through the wind and rain, neither team was able to score again, resulting in a tie game. Senior Dani Glass came off the field with seven saves under her belt to IC’s three.
Sunday, Oct. 5, brought more definite success for the Vikings, this time against Knox College, whose (3-8, 0-4 MWC) record places them at the bottom of the conference standings.
“I think we were a little tired from the day before,” said freshman Eva Tourangeau of the game against Knox. “We beat them, but we could have beat them by more.”
The Prairie Fire certainly looked good on the field, but their inability to find the net made it easier for the Vikings to dominate scoring. In the 34th minute of play Muchowski scored the first goal of the game after a quick turnover.
Striking off an assist by sophomore Casey Merkle, Muchowski’s shot sailed beautifully into the net and set the stage for the rest of the game.
Just under 30 minutes into the second half, Muchowski sent Lawrence’s second goal in, bringing the score to 2-0 and keeping it there until the final buzzer. Glass made five saves to pick up the shutout; Knox made 10.
The Vikings have another full week of competition coming up. On Wednesday, Oct. 8, Edgewood College (8-3-1) came to Appleton to take on Lawrence University in a non-conference game at Whiting Field West. On Saturday, Oct. 11, the Lady Vikes will travel to Monmouth College (2-9, 1-3 MWC) and to UW-Platteville (5-6) on Sunday, Oct. 12.