Women’s soccer suffers some setbacks

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Game 1

This past weekend, The University of Dallas women’s soccer team traveled to Hobbs, New Mexico to compete against the University of the Southwest. The Mustangs, a non-conference opponent, defeated UD by a score of 4-0.

The loss moved the Crusaders to 1-4-1 overall, and the Mustangs improved to 3-2 on the season. The Mustangs are the first NAIA school UD has seen this season. This was the Crusader’s lone game of the weekend, and served as good practice due to Southwest’s strong opposition. UD knew they would have a difficult time getting a good result from an away game against the Mustangs, who finished last season with a 13-3 record and were 7-2 at home.

Goalkeeper Olivia Severson from La Crosse, Wisc., started and played the whole game in goal for the Crusaders.

“I believe the games were eye opening to our team,” said UD Head Coach Lexi Stinson. “We have been solid and competitive all year long until our two games this week. Both games presented challenges that we will learn from and address this week to prepare for our game against Austin College on Friday and the rest of conference. I am excited to see how we bounce back.”

The Crusaders have finished their non-conference games this season.  Their next game is an away game on Friday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. against conference rivals Austin College, following the men’s game. With 12 SCAC games remaining, UD hopes to get back on track and make a push going into the SCAC tournament beginning in early November.

Game 2

The University of Dallas women’s soccer team played their second SCAC match of the season this past Tuesday, Sept. 11 at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Crusaders lost by a score of 4-1 with the lone goal for UD scored by freshman Le Lien from Katy, Texas.

The goal was Le’s first shot of the game, and it was a rocket shot from 30 yards out that sailed over the head of Centenary goalkeeper Avery Sanderson. This was the freshman’s second goal of the season. Junior midfielder Elisa Duran led the team in shots, with 3, and sophomore Whitney Jackson also tallied multiple shots with 2 of her own. Centenary out-shot the Crusaders by a total of 13-9.

Due to the amount of rain that hit Shreveport from Hurricane Florence, the two schools played both the men’s and women’s games on a turf field at CE Byrd High School across the street from Centenary, instead of playing on Centenary’s home grass field. The trip was long and the teams did not return to campus until 3 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

“Our team realized that we can be very good and play with top teams,” said Dallas Head Coach Lexi Stinson, “But if we don’t bring our A-game we could lose to anyone.”

Sophomore Natalie Kutac from Bulverde, Texas, started in goal for the Crusaders, but her day ended early in the 26th minute with an injury; she was replaced by junior goalkeeper Olivia Severson from La Crosse, Wisconsin, who finished the game.

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