Both Winona State University and Truman State University’s women’s soccer teams finished their match goalless. This was the last practice match before the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) for both teams.
Both teams gave the audience an outstanding match as there were attacks and counterattacks all the while, however, none of the teams succeeded in the end. Both teams’ defense was their strong point in the match.
Truman State took five shots, all the which were saved by the Warrior goalkeeper Alyson Jumper. The same number of shots was also taken by Winona State within the first half, though none of them were successful.
The match decider goal would have been scored by Captain Reanne Weil in the first six minutes of the game. She got a quick chance at the beginning of the match but was unfortunately stopped by the Bulldog’s goalkeeper Tatumn Damron.
In the second half, Winona State took eight shots. That was also not enough to break the defense of Truman State, where Damron made ten saves that night for her team.
The Warriors got a lot of chances in both halves to score. They got four corner kicks in each half but could not make good use of any of them. In terms of corner kicks, Truman State was a bit unlucky for the night, as they did not get an opportunity like that.
At the beginning of the second half, the Warrior’s defender Hannah Dunlavy had a shot on goal. Truman State did not start quick attacks in the beginning, but they began attacking in the last few moments of the game.
Both teams were quite aggressive in the match. Winona State caused five fouls in the first half of the match. Truman State was trying to play decently at that time and had only two fouls. In the second half, both teams attempted four fouls.
Winona State completed their pre-conference matches with an even one win, one draw, and one loss. Most of the matches were played with excellent defensive strategies.
“This year’s defense has some new faces that I’m very excited about as well as some returning ones,” Jumper said. “Callie Menzel was one of our “Preseason Players to Watch” named by the conference and she is a staple in our defense.”
Jumper firmly believes that the teams defense has and always will be a strength of the Warriors. She certainly showed this strength by making a crucial save of the shot that would’ve turned the match in favor of Truman State.
Winona State will start their NSIC matches next weekend. They will face Concordia University, St, Paul on Sept. 15 at 7:00 p.m. After that, they will go to Sioux Falls to face Augustana University (SD). The match will start at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 17.
The first match will be a bit easier for the Warriors as they have a good winning record against Concordia University, St. Paul. However, their previous statistics are not as promising against Augustana, as their last match was won 3-0, so the Warriors will have to keep up the excellent defense to earn a win.
