ST. PAUL, Minn.- The University of Northwestern Women's Soccer team began their 2023 season on Friday night when they hosted Bethel University at Reynolds Field. It was Bethel who came out on top in the season opener, defeating the Eagles 5-0 on an extremely hot afternoon in the Twin Cities.
The Eagles played a solid game of soccer in tough conditions to start their season as they put together 10 shots, with six being on goal, throughout the contest. However, they ran into an extremely hot individual player on the Bethel side. Hannah Kvant scored two goals in the first half to give the Royals a 2-0 halftime lead. She would then score two more goals in the second half while a teammate added a third. The Royals went on to win the season opener 5-0.
Samantha Hansen (Cottage Grove, Minn./New Life Academy) is a freshman goaltender for the Eagles, and in her first career collegiate contest she saw a lot of action and held up well. The freshman made an impressive 13 saves in her UNW debut, including a couple of highlight reel saves on balls that looked sure to head into the back of the Eagle net.
Despite not producing a goal on the scoreboard, the UNW offense executed well and created some chances for themselves.
Megan Moeller (Sheboygan, Wis./Sheboygan Christian School) led the way for the Eagles' offense by firing three shots in the contest and getting two of them on net.
Briella Babcock (Byron, Minn./Byron) got off two shots and made them count by getting them both on net.
Megan Kohrt (Monona, Wis./Homeschool) and
Haley Mersberger (Kiel, Wisc./Elkhart Lake Glenbeulah) each had a pair of shots with each of them getting one of those shots on goal.
Destiny Payan (Richfield, Minn./Richfield) also registered a shot in the contest.
The Eagles showed a lot of toughness in this game. Despite challenging conditions, seven UNW players found a way to play all 90 minutes without showing any signs of fatigue.
The Eagles will have two short days of rest before they attempt to get their first victory of 2023 on Monday, September 4
th. The Eagles will host Macalester at 7:00pm, facing their second MIAC opponent in as many games.
