A big save and an even bigger goal gave the SDSU a 1-0 victory.

Close games have become a common theme when the SDSU soccer team plays Wisconsin-Green Bay. Sept. 9 wasn’t any different, as the Jacks defeated UW-GB 1-0 with a goal in the 83rd minute.

Senior Kayla Braffet took the ball down the right side of the field and then cut towards the goal, drawing attention from the UW-GB defense. Braffet passed to sophomore Abby Jurgens who beat the goalkeeper and planted the winning goal in the back of the net.

“Yesterday we were working on one vs. one shots against the goalkeeper, and (coach) Lang (Wedemeyer) was constantly telling me to cut in. I was going to shoot, but I definitely didn’t have the shot, then I saw Abby wide open and she rolled it in,” Braffet said.

The last three meetings between the teams have all ended with the same result: a 1-0 Jackrabbit victory.

Head coach Lang Wedemeyer was impressed with UW-GB and commented on their toughness.

“It’s always a hard fought match against Green Bay,” Wedemeyer said. “It’s always come right down to the end of the game and I’m glad our girls came through.”

The game could have ended much differently however, as senior Kat Donovan made a fantastic sliding save in the 61st minute. Donovan’s save was the only shot on goal for UW-GB, and they only managed seven shots for the whole game.

“We have to give credit to Kat Donovan for making that save that kept us in the game. With the exception of that, they did not have very many dangerous chances,” Wedemeyer said.

The Jacks got off plenty of shots of their own: seventeen in all, but only four were registered as shots on goal. Wedemeyer was pleased with the scoring opportunities his team has been creating.

“I think sometimes we’re kind of our own enemy because we always work it up to the attack, and (the problem) is just finishing and we finally got one today,” Jurgens said.

Braffet figured it was just a matter of time before the offensive attack broke through.

“We got that focus and determination that we needed to actually put a shot in the net,” Braffet said.