Winona State University’s women’s soccer team beat Northern Michigan University on Friday, Sept. 13, in a close 3-2 match in Marquette.

The first goal of the game was scored by senior forward Courtney Wiencek after about eight minutes of playtime.

The other two goals were by junior forward Georgette Topalis.

Topalis said getting goals at the beginning of the season will allow her to progress through the season.

“It feels rewarding to get a couple goals under my belt at the start of the season so I can progress and keep building off of that throughout the season,” Topalis said.

Overall, the players said they think the game went well.

“I thought the game went very well today,” Topalis said. “We battled from the very start and used our speed to get behind the defense.”

Wiencek said because of Winona State’s domination, they proved to be the better team.

“We completely dominated the game and were clearly the better team,” Wiencek said. “Our possession was good, and we were able to finish on our chances.”

This win comes after losing at Bemidji State last week.

Topalis and Wiencek both said one difference in the games was the game at Northern Michigan was on grass, which makes the game slower.

Another difference was the high playing backline of Northern Michigan which gave the Warriors the opportunity to score twice.

“The backline on Northern Michigan also played way higher than Bemidji so we were able to take advantage of the through ball,” Wiencek said.

The team was also more aggressive in this game than they were against Bemidji.

Against Nothern Michigan, there were three more fouls on Winona State than in the game against Bemidji.

The Warriors will be action in Friday night as they make their home debut against Minnesota State University – Mankato. Kickoff will be at 6 p.m.