Winona State University lost 1-0 against Southwest Minnesota State University. The match was a must-win situation for both teams to qualify for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Both teams displayed attacking gameplay and a goal by Selena Prolic of Southwest Minnesota which gave them the victory.
The match started with a couple of Southwest Minnesota attacks, led by Alyson Gallagher. Winona State answered with counterattacks indicating that both teams were certainly hunting for a goal.
Warrior Captain Reanne Weil noted that they do not change their playing style, which forces the opponent to change theirs. Southwest Minnesota chose a counterattack against each attack for this game.
Both teams were going for light tackles to get hold of the ball. Ten fouls were done in the first half by both teams combined, which resulted in several free kicks. But ufortunately, no penalty cards were shown against any player.
Winona State made their first substitution in the 15th minute, trying to bring in some fresh legs to score a goal. In response, Southwest Minnesota had two back-to-back attacks in less than a minute, both of which were unsuccessful thanks Warrior goalkeeper Alyson Jumper who seized both of the attacks.
“Aly is a beast in the net,” Weil said. “She has consistently shown up for us time and time again and I put my full trust in her back there.”
While Jumper became a star for the team, she gave the credit for her success to the defenders.
“I would not have played as well as I did without our amazing defense,” Jumper said.
The first half ended with a couple of corner kicks taken in the last few minutes. Southwest Minnesota attempted some attacking shots but failed to have a single one land inside the goal bars.
Both teams started with five substitutions combined in the second half. This half was a little slow in the beginning as we saw only one attack from Weil but in the 61st minute, Southwest Minnesota turned the tables. With assistance from Brooke Wetterstrom and Haley Mason, Southwest Minnesota forward Prolic scored the only goal of the match.
Winona State tried to make a comeback with a shot taken by Johanna Shubert from the bottom center of the field but it unfortunately did not work in their favor.
After the match, the Warriors are holding the second to last position in the NSIC standings. They had most of their away matches in the beginning, which had a large impact on their standing.
Right now, the Warriors have five draws, most of them occurring in away matches. Their first home ground match was a month and a half after the conference started.
All of these tours in the beginning have made the players tired, impacting their play significantly both mentally and physically. They have also not had a home game during the homecoming week.
Weil expressed that she is not happy with the schedule and that the schedule has been difficult this year, as the team has had several away games at the beginning of the year.
Winona State will play against Minot State University on Oct. 20, 2023, at 5 p.m. And on Oct. 22, 2023, at 1 p.m. they will face the University of Mary. None of the matches of next week will be at home again for them but both of them are must-win games to remain in the conference.
