Starting their season with three losses in their first four games, the women’s soccer team has managed to claw their way back one game at a time, their current record 4-4 and climbing. Photo credit: Kelsey Riesenberg
The women’s soccer team showed up and shut out opponent UW-Oshkosh Clash by a score of 2-0 in their third consecutive victory of the season.
Dominating on offense, IWU recorded three shots on goal in the first seven minutes of the game. These early efforts on offense eventually gave way to a goal in the thirteenth minute, an assist by sophomore Cameron Hindel allowing the Titans to jump to an early lead.
Hindel’s assist, a pass to junior defender Maureen McGrath, made the score 1-0 with 31 minutes remaining in the first half. The goal, McGrath’s first of the season.
Although the Titans did not score for the remainder of the half, they posted a whopping 12 shots on goal in the first alone.
Going into the second, IWU had out-shot their opponents by 10, Oshkosh struggling to produce offensively, firing off only two shots of their own.
In the second-half, it was not long until the Titans found the back of the net, scoring in the sixty-first minute.
This goal was assisted by junior Megan O’Neal on a pass to sophomore Heather Dietrich.
With the score 2-0, strong defensive play secured the Titans their second shutout victory of the season, their first a 2-0 win against opponent Calvin College (Grand Rapids, Mich.).
“We had a rough start to the season, but during our game versus Oshkosh, we found our love for the game and desire to win,” junior Defender Jehan Dib said.
Against Oshkosh, sophomore goalkeeper Maria Field’s performance was spot-on, like it had been in the Titans last two wins.
For her efforts in IWU’s last two games against opponents University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, Mn.) and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Fields earned CCIW Player of the Week honors.
In a 2-1 win over St. Thomas, she recorded five saves, and against Rose-Hulman she secured her first win as a goalkeeper.
Against Oshkosh, she blocked all three of the Clash’s shot attempts, while tallying her third win of the season.
“… during our game versus Oshkosh, we found or love for the game and desire to win”
-Jehan Dib
Offensively, the Titans dominated the game from start to finish. In total, IWU ended the night with 18 shots to Oshkosh’s three.
On a similar note, they had 10 corner-kick opportunities, while their opponents only had one.
Their win over Oshkosh marked their fourth of the season, the Titans now posting an overall record of 4-4.
“We put our heart into this game in an attempt to win and we came out with two goals and a shutout,” Dib said.
Leading the charge on offense was sophomore forward/midfielder Caelyn Steffens. Steffens, along with Fields, received CCIW Player of the Week honors for her two-goal game against Rose-Hulman last Wednesday. This season, Steffens leads the team in goals with four.
On Saturday, the team will face-off against the UW-Stevens Point Pointers.
Their contest against the Pointers will be their last non-conference game of the season.