After only two and a half minutes of play on Wednesday, Women’s Soccer found themselves down 1-0 to St. Mary’s.  Sixteen minutes later a boot from Sophomore Goalkeeper Ashley Becker found Senior Madison Ackiss past midfield. Ackiss did the rest of the work from there, dribbling past St. Mary’s defense to tie the game up 1-1. The goal was the second of the season for Ackiss, and the assist was Becker’s first of her career.

“She’s (Ackiss) deadly, especially in the final third. It’s something where other teams are going to target…” — Coach Burnett-Kurie

At the end of the first half the score remained tied at one. Each team had registered three shots.

“It’s been nice so far this season that we have had so many people get on the scoresheet, so teams know that other people can score on the team.” — Coach Burnett-Kurie

The Gusties controlled the game in the second half, outshooting the Cardinals 4-1. At the 47th minute Senior Jana Elliot tallied her fourth assist of the season with a through ball to Ackiss, who finished for her second goal of the game, and fourth of the season.

The goal would prove to be the game-winner as the Gusties held on to win 2-1.

Ackiss scored nine goals last season, and after a slower start this year it looks like she’s caught fire again.

“She’s (Ackiss) deadly, especially in the final third. It’s something where other teams are going to target… It’s been nice so far this season that we have had so many people get on the scoresheet, so teams know that other people can score on the team. Now we have to continue to get her looks along with other players to balance it out,” Head Coach Burnett-Kurie said.

The win marks the first come from behind victory for the Gusties this season.

“We know every conference game is hard and it’s always great to play at home. There’s something special about playing at home and our girls ended up pulling out the win, which is good to see.” — Coach Burnett-Kurie

“Coming from behind is always a daunting task so it was nice to be able to rebound from that. We made some adjustments in the first half and we started to figure some things out. In the second half we definitely created more dangerous opportunities for ourselves,” Burnett-Kurie said.

“Coming from behind is always a daunting task so it was nice to be able to rebound from that.” — Coach Burnett-Kurie

The Gusties are now 5-2-2 overall and 2-2 in the MIAC. The win was the fourth at home for the Gusties, who are undefeated on their turf.

“We know every conference game is hard and it’s always great to play at home. There’s something special about playing at home and our girls ended up pulling out the win, which is good to see,” Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie said.

The Gusties will again look to defend their home turf at 1 p.m. on Saturday when they host Carleton College.