On Tuesday, September 29, the Saint Xavier women’s soccer team played against one of their biggest conference rivals: the University of St. Francis. The Cougars would get shut out in this game, but showed some promise with the play of their defense and goalkeeping.
The Cougars would have a prime opportunity to score in the very first minute of the game off the foot of Lexi Cozzi. That shot would be saved though. From there, the first half would become very stagnant and chippy as neither team would score, but both teams would commit multiple fouls against each other.
The next great scoring opportunity would come in the 45th minute when Julia Gawlak would have a prime opportunity to put the Cougars on the board. However, that shot would be saved by the USF goalie once again and the game would go into halftime tied 0-0.
The second half would be much different from the first half, as St. Francis would completely dominate the play, peppering Saint Xavier with shot after shot. Goalie Alex Perry, who came in replacement of Carly Bledsoe, would play admirably in this half as she would save the majority of the shots that went her way.
Unfortunately, the inactivity of the offense and with USF dominating the time of possession in the second half, St. Francis would score in the 75th minute of the game to give the Cougars’ rivals a 1-0 lead.
That would not slow down the opponent’s attack though as they would continue to possess the ball and pepper Perry with more shots.
The Cougars would get one more good chance to score in the 89th minute off the foot of Brittany Kroening, but once again St. Francis’ goalie would make a crucial save and give the Cougars a 1-0 loss.
The notable performance of the game came from Perry, who made six saves out of seven shots on goal. The Cougars would have to attempt to recuperate from their 1-0, as they had another game on tap during the weekend.
On Saturday, October 3, the Saint Xavier women’s soccer team play their second game and final game of the week against Judson University.
The Cougars, for the second time this week, would lose a 1-0 game. The game would not start out well for the Cougars as their opponents would get multiple shots on goal early on.
Despite the early pressure, the Cougars’ defense stepped up, blocking a shot and allowing goalie Carly Bledsoe to make only one save within the first 15 minutes of the game. Judson would have another burst similar to this one between the 25th and the 31st minute, but the defense would once again come up big, forcing the game to go to halftime tied at 0.
The start of the second half was not good for the Cougars as the first shot on goal for Judson would go in, giving them a 1-0 lead in the 49th minute. That goal would give them all the momentum as they would continue to pepper the Cougars with shots for the rest of the second half.
Luckily for them, Bledsoe was on her game as she stopped most of the shots that she faced. Unfortunately for her, the Cougars’ offense did not show up once again as they would lose the game 1-0 for the second time in a week.
The notable performer of the game was Bledsoe, saving seven of eight shots on goal. With the two losses, the Cougars record now stands at 3-7 with a conference record of 1-3. The Cougars next game takes place on Wednesday against Cardinal Stritch University at home.
John Romando
Senior Sports Editor
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