Despite two periods of overtime and several attempted shots from both sides, the score remained firmly at 0-0 as the St. Olaf women’s soccer team tied with visiting University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in a scoreless game on Wednesday, Sept. 11.
“I thought we competed well,” Head Coach Jeremy Driver said. “We had a couple decent chances to get a goal, but we were physically and mentally recovering from California.” The team had just returned from an away trip to California where they competed against Chapman University and Claremont McKenna College.
“UW-Eau Claire is usually a one-goal game,” Driver said, calling the teams a close match. “They’re always a good opportunity to test ourselves,” he added.
St. Olaf is generally a more defense-oriented team according to co-captains Nora Forbes ’14 and Megan Campbell ’14.
“Typically we have low-scoring games, more than other teams,” Forbes said. “We always pride ourselves on defense, and that’s where our seniority is.”
Campbell agreed. “Most of our inexperience is in attacking.” The captains were quick to add that the first-year class has been a huge asset to the team, with four first years starting at the most recent game.
“They’re contributing a lot right off the bat,” Forbes said.
Conference play begins shortly for the Oles, and they have clearly defined goals for the upcoming season. First, they would like to limit the number of ties and focus on putting balls in the net so they can make it to the playoffs. Making it to the NCAA Tournament is a big goal for the team – something that hasn’t happened in the program’s history.
“We as seniors would like to have the program make that step,” Campbell said.
Driver added that he would like to see the women “get better every single time [they] play.”
The team is doing just that, as they followed their tie with a 2-1 win against Luther College Sept. 15, bringing the team’s record to 1-3-1 and cementing the team’s first win of the season.
Oles can support the team at any of the eight home games coming up in the season, starting with the College of St. Benedict game Saturday, Sept. 28, at 1 p.m. “We like to play at home, it’s a great field to play on,” Driver said.
“It’s a great way to get people out and supporting,” Campbell said. “We like to say we don’t lose at home. That’s our big goal.”
Photo by Madison Vang
