Teddy Kaste-
The Gustavus Men’s Soccer team secured a 3-0 win against Dubuque on Saturday, improving the season record to 2-0-2. After a tough draw the night before to Loras, the Gusties were able to bounce back.
A trio of rookies led the way for the Gusties, with First-year students Simon Woods, Franklin Schwendimann, and Joe Flory all finding the net. Woods now leads the team with three goals and assisted the Schwendimann goal. Flory’s goal was his second of the weekend.
On the defensive end, Fifth-year Wesley Sanders made five saves and cleaned up his second shutout of the year. Sanders made an unbelievable save on a penalty kick near the end of the half to help the Gusties maintain momentum.
“The penalty kick late in the half was an important moment in the game. Right before halftime, it gave Dubuque an opportunity to tie the game. The save allowed us to go into the half with the lead so we could regroup and come out firing in the second half. It showed with the solid team performance. The defense on Saturday was pretty solid and has been solid the entire year. We had a couple of moments where we got caught a little bit in the first half but the guys really shut them down in the second half. All things considered, the defensive unit has been good and it gives us a foundation to build on going forward,” said Sanders.
The Women’s Soccer team improved to 3-1-0 on Sunday, knocking off University of Wisconsin River Falls with a final score of 2-1. The match proved a physical battle, and the Gusties were up to the challenge.
Junior Makenna Huetten scored her first of the season and put three game-high shots on the net. Junior Callie Patraw tallied the second goal, also her first of the season, and the Gusties held on for the victory. Both goals came from defenders in the match.
“We generated so much offense from the defensive side of the ball by staying patient and waiting for the other team to make a mistake. Our defense played extremely composed and when we won the ball we were able to transition quickly to the attack,” said Patraw.
“As a defensive center mid, it’s crucial to provide a link between our defense and our offense. This helps us transition into our attack. It is also important for us to get into the attacking part of the field so that we are able to overload the other team’s defense. Against River Falls, we really worked to connect with our defenders and also our attacking players so we could create more opportunities on offense. Especially on set plays and when we were on the weak side of the field, we were able to provide more numbers so we had chances to score,” said Huetten.
First-year Katelyn Olson got started on her official career and posted four saves and only allowed one goal. Olson credits the pregame warmup for part of her successful debut.
“Before my first collegiate start, I was a little nervous. But as soon as I got into warmups, I was able to lock in and focus. In warmups, I focused on taking my time with every drill and relaxed into it. Within the first few minutes after the starting lineup, I was able to be vocal and brought my energy to the field and that is what helped kickstart the game for me,” said Olson.
The Men’s and Women’s teams begin conference play this week, hoping to carry a successful start to the season into the MIAC. The Gusties will play Carleton this week, with the Men’s team playing there on Wednesday and the women’s on Tuesday.
“We have been preparing all preseason for the start of conference play. We had a solid practice today and are coming off of a great win on Sunday. We have been building our confidence and our team chemistry [over] the past month. We can’t wait to show it in conference play against Carleton,” said Patraw.