The SXU’s Women’s Soccer team has fallen on hard times after losing four straight games. The team has remained competitive, but it hasn’t shown up in the win column these past two weeks of action.
After their strong 3-0 win over Holy Cross College back on Sept. 29, the Cougars faced No. 14-ranked Judson University on Oct. 1 at Bruce R. Deaton Memorial field.
The Cougars were trying to build off their last win, but they weren’t able to overcome their ranked foe on this night. The team would drop this contest by a final score of 4-3.
The Eagles got on the scoreboard first when junior forward Angela Bianchi burst down the field to score a breakaway goal. She gave them the 1-0 lead and then two more goals by junior forward Jenna Steffensen gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead.
The Cougars didn’t get on the scoreboard until the 55th minute when junior midfielder Cassie Pullia scored off of an assist from senior defender Rachel Wojtysiak.
The Eagles would counter that goal with another breakaway goal by Bianchi in the 56th minute. The game looked completely over and Judson had sealed the deal, but the Cougars showed some fight. They fought until the end and ended up cutting the deficit to one.
SXU put in its second goal of the game in the 78th minute when junior Marissa Graves connected with freshmen midfielder Christina Sperando to make the score 4-2.
They would get another goal in the 86th minute when the Graves-Sperando tandem struck again. This time Sperando found Graves for the goal, making it a one goal game at 4-3.
The Cougars would try to get one more goal to tie things up and pull off an incredible comeback, but they ran out of time as Judson held on for the 4-3 win. The team was led by Pullia putting two shots on goal and having three total shots for the game.
After the close game with Judson, the next game on the slate was Purdue University-Calumet, who came into the game winless. That all changed, though, because they bested the Cougars 1-0 in front their home crowd in Munster, Ind.
The game started two hours late because of thunderstorms in the area.
The only goal of the game was scored in the first half by PUC freshman forward Kami Graber off an assist by junior midfielder Caytin Lewin.
The Cougars struggled offensively, only putting just four shots on goal for the game. Freshman goalkeeper Alex Perry recorded four saves for the Cougars and kept the game close, but they just were not able to get anything going.
A home game against Trinity International University was next for the Cougars of SXU. The team continued their offensive drought and once again did not record a goal as they fell to the Trojans 1-0.
The team could only muster four total shots on goal against the Trojans. Sophomore forward Samantha Yasatan scored the only goal of the game in the 21st minute.
Perry played another great game in goal for the Cougars by stopping 10 shots on goal. She kept the game close, but the Cougars would still drop their third straight game.
Saint Xavier went into their next home game on Saturday looking to snap their three-game losing streak against No. 19-ranked Olivet Nazarene University.
The team played hard but fell to 4-1 in front of the home crowd for their fourth-straight loss. Olivet Nazarene launched everything but the kitchen sink at the Cougars, totaling 25 shots for the game.
Perry did what she could during the onslaught to keep the Cougars in the game and she finished with 11 saves on the afternoon after the Trojans’ put 15 total shots on goal.
The lone goal for the Cougars came on a penalty kick in the 22nd minute off the foot of Morgan Graves.
The team will play their next home game on November 2nd at 11:30 a.m. against Roosevelt University at Bruce R. Deaton Memorial Field. Come and support the team.
Damone Griffin
Copy Editor
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