The women’s soccer team hosted both Illinois College and Monmouth College this past weekend and secured two victories in Midwest Conference play.
The Saturday matchup against Monmouth was a well-balanced match. The Vikings came out strong at the opening whistle, pressing forward early. However, as the game continued on, the Lady Scots shifted the momentum in their favor. They were able to post 13 shots on goal against the Vikings goalkeeper, junior Lindsay Ahlen, but she stepped up and prevented shots from entering the goal.
As for the offensive efforts of the Vikings, freshman Natalie Jin had four shots on goal and sophomore Celesta Kirk, senior Jackie Bean, senior Leah Pryor and sophomore Sarah Ehlinger each had one shot on goal.
At full-time the Vikings and Scots remained deadlocked and began sudden victory overtime to determine a winner. Not six minutes into the overtime period, Ehlinger dribbled into the penalty box and cut between two defenders, who were forced to bring her down.
A penalty kick was awarded and Jin stepped to the mark to take the kick. Her shot was able to beat the keeper, ending the game and giving the Vikings momentum into their match the following day.
Illinois College proved to be weaker than the Scots, and the Lady Vikings were able to exploit the Lady Blues. An overall good team effort led to the Vikings’ second victory of the weekend.
The Vikings dominated the run of play and were able to get into the attacking third, often producing strong opportunities on goal.
Ehlinger commented on the weekend as well as the Illinois College match, saying, “This weekend showed how well our team can work together on the field not just to play well, but get the win. No matter how many passes you string together, you still need to get the ball in the back of the net.”
Putting the ball into the back of the net was exactly what the Lady Vikes did. Scoring started in the 20th minute of play when a ball from senior Ali Blegen was played to Ehlinger, who finished the ball into the back of the net.
Junior Ashlee Moore finished the next two goals for the Vikings with assists from Ehlinger in the 44th minute and the 55th minute. The final goal of the match came in the 65th minute when Kirk assisted Jin, scoring her fifth goal of the season. This strong effort from the Vikings shows the progress made so far this season.
The final game of the Midwest Conference for the Lady Vikings is Saturday, Oct. 25 at St. Norbert College.
Women’s soccer wins two
