Posted: Sep 22, 2012
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - Coming off a dramatic overtime win against the top ranked team in the nation, the UW-Eau Claire women's soccer team pulled off another overtime victory Saturday afternoon.
It was Gina Williams (Sr.-Madison, Wis./Verona) who, for the second straight game, sent the Blugolds home happy, with a penalty kick just under a minute into overtime to defeat UW-Stevens Point, 3-2, at Bollinger Field.
The momentum from Wednesday's game appeared to carry over for the Blugolds, as they jumped all over the Pointers early on. At 3:23, Kara Ryan (Jr.-Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) headed in a corner kick by Tara Dennehy (Fr.-Eugene, Ore./Churchill) as the Blugolds jumped out to the early lead.
Just a few minutes later, at 7:55, Emily Moore (Sr.-Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield Central) scored on a direct free kick that seemed to just hang in the air long enough to get past the Pointers goalkeeper.
The Pointers started to gain momentum towards the end of the first half and just missed a goal with 10 seconds left as the ball rolled wide of the net. That momentum carried over into the second half for UW-Stevens Point.
At 52:54, the Pointers cut the lead in half on a penalty kick and about 11 minutes later, they tied the game up at 2-all. Neither team was able to get the go-ahead goal in regulation, thanks in large part to Nina Behrenbrinker (Jr.-St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall), who made some big saves to keep the Blugolds alive.
The Blugolds controlled the play right from the beginning of the overtime period and that led to a handball in the penalty box by the Pointers. That set up Williams for the penalty kick and she buried it to send the Blugolds off with a win.
Behrenbrinker finished the game with seven saves and picked up her third win of the season in goal. The Blugolds finished with nine shots-on-goal.
The win improves UW-Eau Claire to 3-4-1 and 2-1 in the WIAC. They are back in action Wednesday at Bollinger Field to take on a non-conference opponent, Luther, Iowa, which is set to start at 4 p.m.
-JM-
