MENOMONIE, Wis. - The University of Northwestern Women's Soccer team traveled across the Minnesota border to take on the Blue Devils of UW-Stout for their first away game of the season. With rain coming down, the Eagles had to adjust to the pace of the turf while battling an early Stout attack. After making adjustments, UNW came back to snag the 3-1 win.
UW-Stout pressured the UNW back line in the opening 20 minutes, breaking through with a goal in the 18th minute. Sam Hansen (Cottage Grove, Minn./New Life Academy) got a hand on the shot, slowing the ball down, but it had just enough pace to sneak into the bottom corner of the net.
Naomi Meehan (Waconia, Minn./Homeschool) helped the Eagles level the score in the 38th minute when she sent a beautiful cross that fell to the foot of a Stout defender, who did not have time to react and accidentally kicked the ball into the open net. The teams entered the break tied at one.
UNW came out sharp in the second half and took the lead in the 61st minute. A corner from Marie Kendall (Dakar, Senegal/Dakar Academy) perfectly found the head of Britta Holter (Hudson, Wis./Hudson), who sent it into the back of the net. The duo of Kendall to Holter connected on the same corner set last week, and Holter now has two career goals in consecutive games.
Stout challenged the UNW back line in the final minutes, but Hansen came up with an impressive save in the final minute to keep the Eagles in front. After the big save, Hansen sent the ball up the field to Naomi Meehan (Waconia, Minn./Homeschool), who led her sister Ada Meehan (Waconia, Minn./Homeschool) past a defender. Ada took a shot toward the Stout goalie, who was off her line, and the ball rolled into the open goal with just 25 seconds remaining, sealing the victory for UNW.
Holter and Ada Meehan (Waconia, Minn./Homeschool) each tallied a goal on one shot attempt, while Kendall added two shots, both on target. Naomi Meehan (Waconia, Minn./Homeschool) also added a shot attempt. Hansen finished with three saves and one goal allowed through 90 minutes.
The Eagles improve to 2-0-1 with one more non-conference challenge against Central College at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, September 16, at home. UNW will open conference play on Saturday.
