Mav soccer defeats Florida Tech in thrilling finish

With help from a last-minute goal to win the game, the Mavs push their record to 2-0 on the season.

Bobbi Patrick
Staff Writer

The Maverick women’s soccer team went head-to-head with the Florida Tech Panthers, who ran back to Florida after a crushing 3-2 defeat by the hands of the Mavericks. 

The first half, Florida Tech made it on the scoreboard first with a goal by Veronica Thordardott of the Panthers to take the lead over the Mavericks, 1-0. 

The game stayed deadlock at 1-0 at halftime, only for the Mavericks to come back later in the second half. 

Senior Julia Zach scored the first goal in the second half for the Mavericks in the 46th minute of the game. Zach knew from that point there was no looking back for the Mavs:

“This is the first game we had to face adversity since we haven’t gotten scored on since this game. After their first goal, it made us change our mindset and play a lot harder,” said Zach. 

Florida Tech came back with a 2nd goal to go up on the Mavericks, 2-1, late in the game. 

With Zach making the first shot, senior defender Abby Hausken followed it up with a goal of her own to tie the game, 2-2, in the second half.

Hausken, who was recently named NSIC player of the week, made the goal from midfield with about 26 minutes left in the game. 

With only 32 seconds left in the half, and time winding down on the game clock for the Mavericks, sophomore Molly Sarafolean led the Mavericks to the win, thanks to an assist by junior Alesha Duccini.

Mavericks’ goalkeeper, Alexa Rabune, saved six shots on goal. In the second half, the mavericks stepped up their shots on goal against the panthers. They totaled 28 shots on goal while the Panthers totaled 15.

The Mavericks are currently ranked 13th in the nation in the United Soccer Coaches Division II Women’s National Poll. Minnesota State is the highest ranking NSIC team in the nation; Bemidji State is the only other team, sitting 22nd out of the top 25. 

The Mavericks were ranked 13th according to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA D2 Poll in the 2017 season going into the Central Region Tournament.

After winning the NSIC regular season and postseason championships last year as well, the Mavericks look forward to being ranked higher than 13th this 2018 season.

“A win is always good, but we definitely could’ve prevented those first two goals, so that’s something to work on for the next game,” said Senior Morgan Cottew, “We had two weeks of preseason this year instead of one, so those extra practices helped us connect and create a great team culture which will help us succeed even more this season.”

The Mavericks look to improve and prepare for their next game which is on Sunday Sept. 9th at 1 p.m. against the #1 ranked team in the nation, Central Missouri. 

Feature Photo: Sophomore forward Molly Sarafolean (pictured above) scored the game-winning goal for the Mavericks on Wednesday night for the Mavericks just seconds left in the game. The win for the Mavericks pushes their record to 2-0 on the year, with hefty competition coming up next. (David Bassey | MSU Reporter)