Lakeland’s women’s soccer team was unable to find the back of the net in a 5-0 loss to Lawrence last Thursday, Sept. 24 at Lawrence University in Appleton.
The Muskies had ample opportunities to get on the board with ten shots, six of which were on goal. Sophomore Kristina Borts led the offense striking three of her four shots on frame.
“Kristina’s been playing primarily in the midfield, and she’s been doing well to create shots for herself and can also strike a pretty accurate ball from distance,” coach Dave Madsen said.
Mallory Koula and Marcia Silveira each scored two goals for the Vikings, who led 3-0 at intermission and tacked on two more in the second half.
“We knew coming in that Lawrence had a couple of strong attacking players, and they put themselves in good spots to score on the goals they had,” said Madsen.
Junior goalkeeper Whitney England had nine saves for Lakeland.
“Whitney had a pretty good game,” said Madsen. “This year she’s asserted herself much more in goal and has really taken command of her box.”
The women’s team was outshot 27-2 in a 3-0 home loss to Dominican last Saturday, Sept. 26.
Borts had an early chance to score off a rebound but the shot sailed high.
Madsen said those type of misses can be frustrating.
“Missing a chance early in the game seems to be a reoccurring theme with us,” Madsen said. “A goal in that situation would have a big impact in how the game gets played. We’ve shown we’re capable of playing with good team, and if we could get an early goal the outlook for the long-run would be more positive.”
Dominican scored two goals off crosses, one twenty-one minutes in and again three minutes after halftime. The Stars’ last goal came on a penalty kick.
Madsen felt optimistic about his team’s chances for the rest of the season.
“Saturday was our best defensive performance of the year,” Madsen said. “Dominican really had to use a lot of energy to break us down, and I feel like we made them beat us with their best. A lot of girls were fighting through injuries just to stay on the field, and if we keep playing like we did the results will be better in conference the rest of the year.”