Winona State women’s soccer moved their record 5-3-3 for the 2022 season so far after a split weekend with a win against Concordia – St.Paul on Friday and a loss on Sunday against Minnesota State University – Mankato. 

During Friday’s matchup the Warriors saw some exciting action from a handful of the freshmen with both goals coming from two first-years: Sarah Strating and Grace Seim. 

The game began 18 seconds in when Seim scored with an assist from fourth-year Ellie Wardell.  

However, the Golden Bears responded swiftly by evening the score, leading to a back-and-forth effort for the rest of the first quarter.  

The Warriors were able to secure the game halfway through the second half when Sarah Strating had a solo goal after taking advantage of a missed clearance by Concordia. 

Concordia fought hard to come back in the last 30 minutes with a series of shots but could not come back.

The Golden Bears seemed to have the upper hand in most statistical areas, with 17 shots (12 shots on goal) compared to Winona State’s nine (six SOG). Although they only had 4 saves to the Warriors 10 and 10 fouls to the Warriors 4, the Golden Bears was projected to do well.  

“Last year, we were kind of timid and lost to teams that we definitely shouldn’t have,” fourth-year Ashley Hewitt said. “So I have a really good feeling with this year, especially with 11 freshmen the tides are turning.” 

On Sunday afternoon, the Warriors suffered a loss against the top ranked team in the conference.  

Mankato is currently ranked 19th in the country making it a hard matchup from the get-go. 

The first half of the game was made by Mankato’s Maille Mathis, who was the top rookie last year and came into college with a series of high school accomplishments. 

Last year, Mathis was fourth in shots attempted and shots on goal on the team. 

Mathis took charge with two out of MSU’s three goals on Sunday afternoon, the other being from Jenny Vetter.  

Despite the scoreboard, the Warriors outshot the Mavericks 6-5 in the first half and were able to hold Mathis in check after her second goal.  

Winona State’s Reanne Weil was able to score halfway through the second half with assists from Jaida Wiege and Riley Harmon to put on some increased pressure for the team in the final 15.  

“If I’m caught up there, I can trust that my other forward, my teammate, will come back and help,” Hewitt continued. “And see more of a team need, like team over self-mentality.” 

This was definitely evident this weekend as the team banded together in both games to put the best effort forward, even against a tough team.  

To no avail, the score ended 3-1 with a win for the Mavericks.

The Warriors hit the road next weekend against Bemidji State on Friday and University of Minnesota – Crookston on Sunday. 

Last year’s matchup against the Beavers ended in a tie with a 4-9-2 record against the team within the last 14 years. 

Against the Eagles, the Warriors swept a 6-0 win last year with 8 wins and 2 ties in the past 12 years.  

Stay up to date with the team on winonastatewarriors.com or check up on The Winonan website for more.