Two wins to wrap up the season
The Minnesota State women’s soccer team wrapped up its regular season schedule with two home wins against the University of Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State University.
The first of those two matches took place against Minnesota Crookston Friday.
The Mavericks got back to their winning ways by beating the Golden Eagles 4-0. The Mavs got things going with an early goal by Allie Williams and an assist by Avery Korsching in the third minute.
The Mavs went into halftime with a 1-0 lead, and outshot the Golden Eagles 17-0 in the first half. They ended up outshooting them 36-2 over the course of the match, and in the second half added to their tally through three first-time goal-scorers: Kiera Laney, Abigail Rieff and Aubrey Bahl capped things off with a goal in the 89th minute.
After losing their last match, head coach Brian Bahl said he believes this performance is a boost for his team’s confidence.
“We got an early one today which is always a good way to set the tone. Seeing the ball hit the net a few more times was good for our confidence,” Bahl said in a press release posted on the Mavericks Athletics website.
The Mavs’ regular season finale took place in a 4-0 win against Bemidji State Sunday at the Maverick All-Sports Dome. For the second match in a row, the Mavs put four goals past an opponent. The last two games have been their highest tallies since the season’s opener against Oklahoma Baptist University, where they scored seven.
The team got off to a quick start once again and grabbed an early lead. Kelsey Heller scored her first goal of the season early in the match. Unlike the previous match where it took the Mavs until the second half to further their lead, Anna Van Wyngarden found the back of the net four minutes later to give them a 2-0 lead after 10 minutes.
The Mavs outshot the Beavers 10-7 in the first half, but Bemidji State was able to turn that around and outshoot the Mavs 11-5 in the second half. Despite being outshot, the Mavs were able to keep the Beavers from scoring and added to their lead. In the 71st minute, Molly Mosher gave the Mavs their third goal and got her first of the season. Allie Willaims then made it 4-0 in the 79th minute after capitalizing off of a Beaver mistake.
After two disappointing results, the message from the staff to the team was that they still have everything they want to achieve in front of them. Bahl is proud of how his team handled the buildup to last weekend’s matches.
“This was the version of us we’ve been waiting for. Incredible energy, work rate, and just an elite level of determination the entire day today. Super proud of our entire team for their preparation this week and how they transferred that to the games this weekend,” Bahl said.
Header Photo: The Mavs women’s soccer team ended their regular season with a bang — two straight wins as they head into the NSIC Tournament. (Photo courtesy Maverick Athletics)
Write to Mohamed Warsame at mohamed.warsame@mnsu.edu