Kylie Bridenhagen/ Winonan
After conquering two games at home this weekend, the Winona State University women’s soccer team remains undefeated with a 4-0 record overall and 1-0 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
In the first four games, the Warriors have scored nine of their 12 total goals as a team in the second half of play.
Junior forward Mehan Bolton leads the team in goals, alongside freshman forward Darian Molter, having scored three times in three of the previous four games, with her latest goal coming in the third minute of the Friday, Sept. 11 game against conference opponent Upper Iowa University.
Last week, Bolton was honored with the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week title, as well as Athlete of the Week at Winona State.
“It’s an honor to be NSIC player of the week and also athlete of the week for Winona,” Bolton said. “I wouldn’t have been able to score those two goals if it weren’t for all my teammates.”
Winona State was on the board first in game one with Bolton’s goal, assisted by Meg Riebau and Kenzie Rose to put the Warriors up 1-0.
The Warriors would score again in the 23rd minute, this time by Molter, with the play set up by Nicole Sames and Shauna Rodman. Molter’s goal would be the first of her career and the last of the matchup.
The Warriors won the game 2-0 over the Peacocks with 13 total shots as a team.
Bolton led the team with five total shots individually, with one goal and one shot on goal. Molter was right behind her with three total shots — her one goal and two shots on goal.
Hayley Bach and Rodman each had one shot being on goal, while Hannah Burt, Kati Baker and Riebau contributed one shot each.
Goalkeeper Rachel Oleson made four saves, while allowing zero balls to pass through the back of the net.
Upper Iowa had 12 total shots as a team, with four of those being on goal.
Madie Edwards had five shots, with one being on goal, while Lauren Rohrmeier and Danielle Weiss each added two shots to the team’s total.
The Peacock’s goalkeeper Kaitlyn Emanuel saved three but allowed two goals for the Warriors’ win.
After starting the season with a 2-0 record previous to the pair of weekend games, senior forward Caillyn McCauley said the Warriors worked together to get the wins.
“We started off running and want that to continue into our regular season games,” McCauley said. “Our team is very strong on possession and worked together to come up with a winning result.”
On Sunday afternoon on Sept. 14, the Warriors took on Emporia State University at home.
After the first half of play both teams remained scoreless, but Winona State took the lead after senior forward Taylor Zehren scored her first goal of the year — assisted by Bolton — to lead the Warriors 1-0 in the 61st minute.
Less than three minutes later in the 63rd minute Rose scored her first goal of the year, the assist again by Bolton, to up their overall lead 2-0.
In the 70th minute of play the Warriors increased their lead 4-0, after two goals were scored off of penalty kicks. Molter would score these final two goals to cap off the game and bring the Warriors their fourth consecutive win of the 2014 season.
The Warriors totaled 21 shots, 14 of which were on goal. Molter had four total shots, with all of those being on goal. Rodman, Baker and Bolton added three shots each to the team’s total. Alaina Kne and Zehren posted two shots each, while Mikaella Sabinash, Reibau, Rose and Sames added one shot each.
Oleson would again allow zero goals and make two saves. She has made 16 saves in her first year playing at the collegiate level so far and allowed two goals in the season’s first two games.
Upper Iowa had six total shots during the game, two of which were on goal. Grace Linton led the team with two individual shots. Jaide Allenbrand, Kelsey Wakefield, Shannon Thomas and Amelie Heun each added one shot to the teams’ total.
The Hornet’s goalkeeper Yadira Rivera saved ten shots and allowed four goals during the game.
McCauley said the team looks promising this year as the Warriors continue to work hard in pratice.
“We are constantly improving and working on patching up the little things, but the outlook for the season looks very promising,” McCauley said.
The No. 13 Warriors will be on the road this weekend for two games before heading back for a four-game home stand in late September and early October.
The first road game will be at 11 a.m. on Sept. 20 in Wayne, Neb. against Wayne State University. The following day Winona State will take on Augustana College at 1 p.m. on Sept. 21 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
