By: Christian Kiener, UWEC Sports Information
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (blugolds.com) – The University of Eau-Claire Women's Soccer Team faced the St. Olaf Oles at home Wednesday night. Early Goals combined with a quick response led the team to a solid 3-1 victory.
The Blugolds took the lead early in the 4th minute with a goal by Megan Hansen (Sr. – Andover, MN), settling the ball in the box and driving the ball into the net with her left foot to make it 1-0. Eau Claire then dug in and defended a tough attack from St. Olaf for 20 minutes before getting another opportunity to score with the setup of incredible through balls from the midfielders. UWEC continued fending off the opponent's dangerous counterattacks through the middle and closed out the half with a strong defensive hold and an 1-0 lead.
In the second half, Eau Claire struck early again with a goal in the 50th minute by Elise Pinewski (So. – Anoka, MN), scoring for her 2nd straight game by taking the ball down the right sideline from midfield, turning to the top of the box, and rifling a shot with her right foot just above the keeper's outstretched arms into the back of the net. St. Olaf would not go away quietly as they responded with a goal off a corner kick to cut the home team's lead in half. The Blugolds would respond less than a minute later with a perfect through ball from Emma Stange (Sr. – Andover, MN) to Hansen allowing for Hansen to fire her 2nd goal of the night into the upper left corner to push the lead to 3-1. The Eau Claire defense would remain solid the rest of the night giving up only 4 shots in second half and securing the team's first home win of the season.
Kennedy Boll (So. - Franklin, WI) stopped one of the two shots she faced in her second win of the season. Boll is now 2-1 on the year.
The Blugolds (2-1, WIAC 0-0) will be on the road Saturday, September 10th at St. Benedict's and then return home on Sunday, September 11th to host Gustavus Adolphus. Both games kickoff at 1pm.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at Blugold Game Day or on our app, UWEC Blugolds.
