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Women's soccer starts season with 4-1 victory

Anna Rehder
September 5, 2003

A victory over Luther College was something that the seniors on this year?s St. Olaf women?s soccer team had never done before they walked onto Rolf Melby Field on Friday, August 29th. After an early goal by Luther, the Oles were immediately placed in a situation where they had to come from behind but that?s exactly what they did winning the game 4-1.

The first half was dismal for the Oles. It was their first regular season game and it appeared that first game jitters were getting the best of them. Most 50/50 balls were won by Luther and St. Olaf only got off one shot to Luther?s 12. In the 26th minute Luther's Abby Bachelder put the first tally on the scoreboard for the visiting team with the assist being credited to Kendel Maxa. Luther went into their half time talk with the confidence of a one-goal lead while the Oles were ready to turn around the game. Coach Anderson encouraged his players by reminding them that halftime is the perfect opportunity for a change in momentum.

The St. Olaf women not only found that much needed momentum but they rode it all the way through to the final whistle. Just 11 minutes into the second half Kristi Parks (Sr., Wayzata, Minn.) scored the equalizing goal. Then 7 minutes later Kaia Knutson (So., Fargo, ND), a transfer student from Tucson, scored with an assist from Kelsey Watt (FY, Apple Valley, Minn.). Knutson added some breathing room to the Oles lead just 5 minutes later with an unassisted goal from a break away. She made it look easy as she sped past the last defender to create a one-on-one situation with the Luther goalkeeper, who she slotted the ball past. Now with a comfortable two-goal lead, the Oles were settling into playing the kind of soccer that had eluded them the first half. Captain Brie Messick (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) added the finishing touch with a goal from a seemingly impossible angle in the 83rd minute to bring the final score to 4-1 in favor of the Oles. The assist came from Siri Stelter (FY, Mankato, Minn.). In the second half the Oles out shot Luther 12 to 9. This was the Oles first regular season game so they now stand with a perfect record of 1-0-0. Next up for the Ole women is non-conference match at UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday, September 3rd at 4:00pm.

Contact Le Ann Finger at 507-786-3834 or finger@stolaf.edu.