Reagan Johnson/Winonan
The Winona State University women’s soccer team competed in the NSIC tournament this week, starting with a quarterfinal matchup against the St. Cloud State University Huskies. The Warriors avenged an early regular season loss to the Huskies with a 1-0 victory Wednesday in Winona.
In the 19th minute Chase Rehm and Nicole Sames connected with Mehan Bolton who fired it into the net for her third goal of the season to give the Warriors the win.
The Warriors controlled the game offensively in the second half, outshooting the Huskies’ 16 to 3. Winona State finished the match with a total of nine shots on goal while the Huskies tallied five. The Warriors also led the game in corner kicks with an 8-3 advantage.
Bolton led the way for the Warriors with six shots and three on goal, while NSIC Freshman of the Year Abby Bohanski and junior Meg Riebau each recorded four shots with two on goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Oleson earned her 11th shutout of the season by saving all five of the Huskies’ attempts on goal.
“I think we brought great energy and played as a whole. We controlled the game and really passed to feet, and were fortunate enough to put a goal in the back of the net,” Bohanski said.
Wednesday’s win made head coach Ali Omar the ninth coach in Division II women’s soccer to have 300 wins. Omar is in his 21st year as head coach and his winning percentage of .738 ranks him 13th all-time among Division II coaches.
On Friday, the Warriors moved to the semifinals to compete against the top-seeded team in the conference, Minnesota State University, Mankato. Once again the Warriors were looking to avenge a regular season loss, and came up victorious with a 1-1 (3-2) shootout upset over the No. 3 Mavericks.
By the end of the second half both teams were tied with one goal, pushing the game into overtime. Neither team were able to put in a goal in the two ten-minute overtime halves, forcing a shootout to decide which team would continue on in the tournament.
Kelsey Foss, Chase Rehm and Kati Baker all made their penalty kicks. The Mavericks came up short with Oleson blocking the first two shots and the third bouncing off the post unsuccessfully, sealing the win for Winona State and allowing them to move to the championship game.
Bohanski got the scoring started for the Warriors with a goal in the 53rd minute after corralling a pass from Meg Riebau. NSIC Offensive Player of the Year Korey Kronforst then fired the equalizer goal in the 78th minute to tie the game up 1-1. Despite being outshot 11-4 in the second half, the Warrior defense limited the Mavericks to one goal.
Winona State had a chance to win the game in the first overtime session but Riebau’s free kick was blocked by Mavericks goalkeeper Lauren Hoeppner.
The Mavericks outshot Winona State 24-14 on the afternoon, and also led in shots on goal 8-6.
Riebau led the Warriors with seven shots while placing three on goal. Baker and Rehm each posted two shots and one on goal, while Bohanski found the back of the net on her only shot of the game.
“We played strong and inspired the whole game,” Omar said. “We matched everything that they had much like the game we played against them last Friday. We wanted to win instead of accepting the fact their number three in the nation.”
Bohanski said the team showed its character on Friday and played with a lot of heart.
“Friday’s game was amazing. We brought great energy and played for one another,” Bohanski said. “We wanted to win more than they did and we stayed confident during the whole 110 minutes. After the first 90 minutes, we were not going to walk off the field without a win and it showed, especially during penalty kicks. Rachel made two great saves and Kelsey Foss, Chase Rhem and Kati Baker came through and buried their shots to seal our spot in the championship game.”
On Sunday, the Warriors competed in the NSIC championship against the second seeded team in the conference, the Augustana University Vikings, in
Mankato. The Warriors were unable to match Augustana’s goal resulting in a 1-0 loss to take second place in the conference tournament.
After the first half ended scoreless, Augustana scored the championship-winning goal in the 53rd minute. Both teams played a closely even match, with each team recording 11 shots and the Warriors had four shots on goal compared to the Vikings three.
Rehm and Bohanski each fired two shots with one goal while Nicole Sames and Hayley Bach both had a shot on goal.
“I would say today was the opposite of Friday, we had an uninspired performance until we fell behind and tried to get back into the game but we fell short,” Omar said.
A trio of Warriors earned All-Tournament team spots including Baker, Bohanski and Riebau.
Omar mentioned the sport of soccer teaches his players lessons they don’t get in a classroom.
“We’re able to provide them with the opportunity to learn something more while they’re in college. College is not just about going to class, it’s also about everything and hopefully soccer provided a good opportunity for them,” Omar said.
Omar said the team has a lot of talent next season as well as incoming talent next year.
“We’re very optimistic. On paper everybody always looks good but we need start putting things together. It’s always a great to start fresh,” Omar said.
Winona State (13-5-3, 9-4-2 NSIC) earned the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Central Region Tournament and heads to Warrensburg, Mo. to take on Minot State University Friday at 1 p.m.
