Women’s Soccer Team Competitive in Early Matches

This much can certainly be said for the Saint Xavier women’s soccer team: it has played competitively.

The women’s squad proved that in its first three regular season games, working to a draw in each of the first two matches and equalizing in the third before giving up a late goal.
Overall, the team is 0-1-2, with the one regulation loss coming to a ranked opponent.
That opponent was the Ashford University Saints, who traveled to the south side of Chicago to square off with the Cougars on Friday. That Saints team earned a No. 20 ranking in the NAIA women’s soccer coaches’ top-25 preseason poll.
Saint Xavier got to Ashford early in the game. Senior midfielder Monica Chavolla took a free kick in the 27th minute and placed it perfectly for fellow senior midfielder Morgan Graves to head the ball past opposing keeper Nyla Peterkin.
It would not be long before the Saints responded, however. They would tally a goal of their own in the 29th minute to draw even.
They would add another score as first-half time ran out to take a 2-1 lead heading to halftime.
Saint Xavier responded with an equalizer of its own. Sophomore Julia Gawlak lifted a cross over to senior forward Anita Balciunas, who tucked the ball neatly away in the net to draw even.
But later, in the 81st minute, Ashford would deal the heartbreaking blow. After a Saint Xavier foul, the Saints scored from ten yards out to take a 3-2 lead, which would hold up until the final whistle.
The result may not have been desired, but it is a positive sign. It was just a one-goal loss to a ranked team, and the Cougars kept it very close for having four shots on goal to the Saints’ nine.
And even more reason for optimism were the two prior games the Cougars played.
Saint Xavier opened the season on Aug. 29 with a trip to Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn.
Each team was handed a blank sheet in the first half, but each team would find its offensive stride in the second half.
Freed-Hardeman took the lead in the 48th minute of play, beating senior Cougar goalkeeper Danielle Koncius after she could not control a rebound on a previous shot. Koncius had relieved sophomore keeper Alex Perry after her first-half shutout.
And it looked for a bit like Saint Xavier would not be able to equalize… until the Cougars did.
In the 77th minute of action, sophomore midfielder Brittany Kroening assisted on a goal by senior midfielder Marissa Graves that knotted the score at a goal apiece.
Koncius and her teammates played two, ten-minute overtime periods in which they kept Freed-Hardeman off the board, but they also could not score themselves.
Saint Xavier finished the draw with 21 shots, but only four were targeted on goal. Meanwhile, Freed-Hardeman had a much better percentage of shots on goal with eight in 12 total attempts.
The formula would be much the same for the Cougars’ second game of the season, a visit to Saint Catharine College in Saint Catharine, Ky.
Again Perry got the start in goal and proceeded to allow one goal on the three shots that she faced. Perry’s one goal against came after the Cougars had already taken the lead.
The Cougars claimed the first lead of the game in the 34th minute with a corner kick from Chavolla that found its way to senior midfielder Cassie Pullia, who wasted no time burying.
But Saint Catharine responded just prior to the final whistle of the half, knotting the game at a goal apiece.
Again, Saint Xavier took the lead. This time, it was with Koncius, who would play 65:00 and make five stops and allow one goal, as the last line of defense.
Chavolla had been the assister on the previous goal, and this time she decided to score one for herself. She did so in the 52nd minute to put SXU up 2-1.
But that lead would not hold up for very long. It was in the 65th minute that Sara Herbert would tally for Saint Catharine to equalize the score.
With Koncius playing well through the final 25 minutes of regulation play and the 20 minutes of overtime play, again Saint Xavier had to settle for a draw.
But the record shows what the results show, and that is that this women’s soccer team is a competitive bunch. No matter the opponent, through the first three games the Cougars have remained close.
They will look to break through with their first win of the season tonight on the road at Cornerstone University.
Then it is back to Deaton Field for a 6 p.m. Friday match against the University of Saint Francis (Ind.), in which they hope to make a winning streak.

Tim Carroll
Senior Sports Editor

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