Soccer team fights back

staff

After a tough game against NDSU, the Jackrabbit Soccer Team finds a late-season will to win and manages to win a close match.

In a game where each team desperately needed a win, the SDSU women’s soccer team used a physical attack and out-muscled Summit League rival Oral Roberts to win, 1-0 at Fishback Soccer Park on Oct. 29.

The Jackrabbits controlled the ball for much of the first half but were unable to get off many quality shots. SDSU’s best early effort came after the Jacks were able to dink and dunk near the net and Cori Bonte was able to fire a shot, only to see it fly wide left of the goal in the 31st minute.

SDSU was able to get on the board in the 42nd minute with a gritty effort by Chelsey Poole. She controlled a loose ball in the box and got through ORU’s goalie Amanda Wheeler and two other defenders to muscle the ball into the net. It was Poole’s second goal of the season and gave the Jacks a 1-0 advantage at halftime.

“I was just running in, thinking the ball was just going to drop in behind the first player on our team and I just happened to be there to knock it in,” Poole said.

“We figured that there would be some of those opportunities and we [were] unfortunate to not get one or two more, but to her credit she got in there and made the most of her chance,” said SDSU head coach Lang Wedemeyer.

The Jacks controlled the majority of the second half, not allowing the Golden Eagles to mount any shots that threatened SDSU goalie Elisa Stamatakis’ shutout effort. ORU pushed hard to come up with the equalizer in the waning moments of the game but SDSU safely closed out the 1-0 victory.

“We talked after the NDSU game about how we put ourselves in a tough position and they don’t want to see their season end prematurely. They don’t want to be on the sidelines watching the conference tournament next weekend,” Wedemeyer said.

“We definitely had to put all of our effort into it, considering it is one of our biggest games of the year,” Poole said.

SDSU held the shooting advantage 20-3 in the match. Stamatakis tallied her 10th victory and eighth shutout of the season.

“Oral Roberts is a good team. They’re probably one of the better soccer teams in the conference. They were tough and I thought our girls had a very solid game and it was nice to get that win,” Wedemeyer said.

Poole recognized the importance of finishing the season with a little bit of momentum heading into next weekend’s Summit League Championship Tournament.

“Momentum is a big part of it and we want to be rolling and playing our best soccer heading into the tournament. If we keep that up, I think we’ll be great.”

#1.1743596:2039967733.png:Kayla Braffet 11-03-2010 85:Kayla Braffet battles for ball control against Oral Roberts Oct. 29. The Jacks won 1-0 behind a Chelsey Poole goal in the 42nd minute of play.:Collegian Photo by Aaron Stoneberger