The Lawrence University women’s soccer team struggled last Sunday at Carroll University and came away with their second conference loss of the season. Carroll (9-3, 5-0 MWC) sits on top of the conference standings and has yet to be challenged thus far.
Reigning conference defensive player of the week Cassie Burke had another solid outing for Lawrence, but was bombarded with shot after shot from the Pioneers. Carroll outshot Lawrence 17-9, with 10 of those 17 shots on goal.
The Pioneers struck early in the game when Cody Callander fired the ball past Burke, and just 10 minutes later Callander struck again, putting Carroll ahead 2-0. The Pioneer attack did not stop there, with Kellen Moran scoring just four minutes later.
With much of the game spent on the defensive end of the pitch, the Lawrence offense had a hard time getting anything started. Leading scorer Mallory Koula had only three shots, while Celesta Kirk had three as well. The Vikings (5-7, 4-2 MWC) had only four corner kicks to the Pioneers’ 11.
Carroll goaltender Taylor McLean made five saves to earn the shutout as the Pioneers won 3-0.
Lawrence remains in sole possession of fourth place in the conference. With the top four teams at the end of the regular season earning bids to the conference tournament, the Vikings will have to hold off Monmouth, Ripon and Grinnell as the season draws to a close.
If the season ended today, the Vikings and Pioneers would be set up for a rematch of last Sunday’s game in the first round of the tournament.
The Vikings take on fifth-place Monmouth and winless Illinois College this weekend on their home field as they look to improve their chances of playing beyond the regular season.
Women’s soccer downed by powerful Carroll team
