Zach Anderson

A second-half goal by Kaitlin Justice and a huge save by goalie Brie Rogers with 11:50 left in the second half gave the women’s soccer team its first win of the season Sept. 4 at the Fishback Soccer Park.

After a couple of shots on goal by the Jacks that just missed the mark, Justice got behind the Phoenix defense and teammate Tory Schiltgen delivered a perfect pass to her.

Justice was one-on-one with Phoenix goalkeeper Maddie Drusch, getting the ball just past the diving Drusch for the game-winning goal.

The goal for SDSU was the second of the season with 32:56 remaining in the second half.

“We talked at halftime about getting behind the defense,” SDSU coach Lang Wedemeyer said. “Tory delivered a great ball to KJ.”

The Jackrabbit defense then held off a late charge by the Phoenix.

With just under 12 minutes left in the game, Green Bay’s Nicole Dooher beat her defender and was driving towards the goal with the chance to tie the game. Rogers did a diving slide, came up with the ball in her hands and had the first shutout of her career.

“Brie’s save was huge,” Wedemeyer said. “We lost a little composure at the end. We are a young team, but we did what we had to to win.”

Green Bay had a couple other drives that fell short at the end of the game, as the Jacks defense held.

Rogers made three saves for the game, while Green Bay goalkeeper Drusch had seven saves while allowing the one goal.

The win was the first of the young season for the Jacks, but they know there are things to improve on.

“We’ve got the big picture in mind,” Wedemeyer said. “It was a great win, but we know we have to play better to win a championship.”

Despite winning by one, the Jacks outshot Green Bay 25-6. SDSU was on Green Bay’s side of the field for the majority of the first half, leading to 10 of their 25 shots while holding the Phoenix to one total shot.

With this win, the Jacks moved to 1-3-1 on the season and Green Bay moved to 1-2-0.