Game 1:
The University of Dallas women’s soccer team opened their weekend this past Friday, Sept. 28, with a resounding 1-0 win against Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) opponents, Schreiner University.
The lone goal of the game was scored by Crusader freshman midfielder, Monica O’Donnell, from Lincoln, Neb. Junior midfielder Elisa Duran from Pomona, Calif. and freshman midfielder Le Lien from Katy, Texas shared the assist for the goal.
While Schreiner did outshoot the Crusaders by a total of 17-7, they were not able to find the back of the net. The Crusaders were able to make the most of their opportunities and put one past the Schriner keeper. Freshman midfielder Bekah Gonzalez from Reno, Nev. led the team with two shots.
Head Coach of the Crusaders, Lexi Stinson, commented on the game saying, “We beat Schreiner on Friday 1-0 which was a big win because they finished second in the regular season last year.”
Olivia Severson played all 90 minutes as goalkeeper for the Crusaders and recorded eight huge saves for Dallas which helped the Crusaders obtain their first clean sheet of the season.
“During our game we proved that we are a team that can compete in the SCAC and that teams should not overlook us anymore,” commented Severson. “Our performance was strong and we put in a full 90 minutes as a team and came out with a huge win.”
This game marked the first win in SCAC conference play for the Crusaders this season, and moved their overall record to 2-4-1 and conference record to 1-2.
Game 2:
The University of Dallas women’s soccer team finished the weekend with a 3-0 loss to nationally ranked Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) opponent, Trinity University.
Trinity University is currently ranked 21 in the nation and holds an overall record of 8-1-1 with an unbeaten 7-0 conference play record. It is always difficult stopping a nationally ranked team and the Tigers came into the game on a six game winning streak.
“This is the best I have seen us play against Trinity in the four years I have been here,” said senior midfielder Katia Guzman. “I am really proud of the effort everyone [made], and I think we held our ground really well against them. We made them fight and compete for everything, and if we play like this the rest of the year, then there is no reason why we shouldn’t finish higher than we did last year.”
The Crusaders were out-shot 27-3 in the contest with zero on target. Junior midfielder Elisa Duran from Pomona, California, led the team with two shots. Trinity opened the scoring in the 15th minute, and the Crusaders held their own with a deficit of only 1-0 by halftime. Trinity added their second and third goals in the 51st and 57th minutes respectively.
“This weekend was exciting,” commented head coach of the Crusaders, Lexi Stinson. “We played No. 21 ranked Trinity and battled incredibly hard; harder than I’ve ever seen. We made them earn everything, we didn’t make it easy on them. We can’t wait to take this energy and fight into our games this coming week.”
Olivia Severson played all 90 minutes in goal for the Crusaders and tallied a season-high 11 saves in an attempt to keep the Crusaders in the game. Her 11 saves were one away from tying her career-high of 12 which she recorded last year against Texas Lutheran University.
The next game for the Crusaders is Tuesday, October 2, at home against SCAC rival Austin College at 7 p.m. following the men’s game.
