Winona State University’s women’s soccer team is now 4-6 in the conference season.

The team played the University of Minnesota: Duluth Friday, Oct. 18 in Duluth. They played again Sunday, Oct. 20 against St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, MN.

The Warriors beat the Bulldogs 1-0 and lost to the Huskies 2-3.

The team spent the week practicing how to mark up and defend against the unique formations of the two teams.

Duluth and St. Cloud play a 4-4-2 box midfield and a 4-5-1 formation.

Bailey Deininger, first-year defender, said the team had a lot of in-house scrimmages in preparation.

“So, just went through a normal practice and went through our scrimmages and one team played the way they do, so their formations so we got to see how the formation and marking up based on the different movements they make,” Deininger said.

Mariah Northrop, senior midfielder, said it has been a rollercoaster year, but this week was the start of showing how much potential this team has.

Northrop said her favorite part of her career here at Winona State has been her teammates.

“I mean I think that in any team sport that is really what makes or breaks it,” Northrop said. “Our team chemistry and the attitude, the jamming out to music before games, everybody just getting each other hyped when we score a goal, it’s just kind of what makes six a.m. workouts and practices, playing in a blizzard-like last weekend making it much more bearable.”

Deininger reiterated by saying that she immediately felt welcomed by her older teammates.

“They are so nice, they were so inclusive when we first came,” Deininger said. “I know some schools they show up and the freshman don’t get talked to at all, but we were included right away like I feel like I am an integral part of the team just from the start.”

This year the team only had one night that was dedicated to bonding. However, in the pre-season, the players spend every day together.