WAUWATOSA, Wis. – Three different players scored goals for Wisconsin Lutheran College and the Lakeland University women's soccer team dropped a 3-0 decision Wednesday night on the road in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play.
The Muskies continued to struggle offensively, held without a goal for the third straight match, and fell to 1-7-3 overall and 0-4-3 in the NACC. Wisconsin Lutheran avenged a loss to Lakeland last year and improved to 7-3-1 overall and 3-2-1 in conference.
The Muskies applied early pressure and even had the first shot of the game less than two minutes in, when
Marlen Reyes (
Sr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) got loose after a throw-in by
Jenna Caterino (
Sr.-Stanton, Mich.) and took a shot from 30 yards out that WLC goalkeeper Sam Schroeder caught on a tricky short hop.
The Warriors soon took control of possession, though, and broke through in the 32nd minute when Alaena Zastrow after a pass back took a shot from 25 yards out, just over goalkeeper
Ingrid Steinbock (
Fr.-Sheboygan, Wis.) that caught the top of the crossbar and bounced down and into the net.
The score remained 1-0 until early in the second half in the 54th minute. WLC's Ava Zarling received a pass just past midfield on a counterattack and with speed dribbled through the Muskies defense, all the way to the end line. She then centered a pass to Ginny Shade in front of the goal, and Shade scored from eight yards out to make it 2-0.
Lakeland had a chance in the 80th minute but a shot by
Alondra Reyes (
Sr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) was turned away by Lutheran's second half goalkeeper Kallista Street. The Warriors then added an insurance goal with just over seven minutes left in the match, as Zarling beat a defender deep in the offensive end and fired a quick shot past Steinbock inside the right post for the final margin. The Muskies had one final chance inside the last 30 seconds as
Marlen Reyes won a ball from two defenders outside the WLC penalty area and passed to
Janae Kilsdonk (Jr.-Appleton, Wis.), whose left-footed shot from 25 yards out was caught by Street.
Steinbock finished making 11 saves, while
Marlen Reyes and
Malaya Sperber (
Fr.-Grafton, Wis.) led Lakeland with two shot attempts each. Wisconsin Lutheran finished with a 29-8 advantage in shot attempts, including a 14-3 lead in shots on goal.
The Muskies are on the road again Saturday when they face Illinois Institute of Technology at 3:30 p.m. in Chicago as part of a men's/women's doubleheader that includes the Lakeland and Illinois Tech men's teams playing first at 1 p.m.
