Game Summary
WINONA, Minn. — After two games, Saint Mary's University women's soccer coach Dan Blank has narrowed his team's needs down to two areas — offense and defense.
After managing just three shuts and allowing nine goals in their season-opener last Tuesday — a 9-0 loss to UW-Oshkosh — the Cardinals nearly doubled their shots-on-goal output Saturday against UW-River Falls, forcing Falcons' goalie Apryl Jennrich to stop five shots.
Unfortunately, Jennrich did just that, and the UW-River Falls' quick-strike offense scored five times as the Falcons cruised to a 5-0 nonconference victory Sunday at Ochrymowycz Field.
"Take away the first three minutes of each half and it's a 1-0 ball game," said SMU coach Dan Blank, whose team gave up two goals less than a minute apart in the opening three minutes of the first half, then surrendered two more 51 seconds apart to open the second half. "Giving up back-to-back goals like that to start both halves is just demoralizing — our team was just shell-shocked."
Amy Gilfilan put the Falcons on top 1-0 and 2-0, beating SMU goalie Emily Strom (Waterford, Wis.) at the 2:56 mark and the 3:36 mark of the first half. The Cardinals held the Falcons at bay the rest of the half, with UW-RF holding a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal and a 2-0 advantage on the scoreboard.
"Once we got over that first three minute stretch, I thought we played a pretty good half of soccer," said Blank. "I was pretty happy with the way we played the last 42 minutes (of the half)."
Unfortunately, Lisa McGuire and Gilfilan turned Blank's smile into a frown in a hurry, scoring back-to-back goals 51 seconds apart before the second half was even three minutes old.
"We knew coming out for the second half that we needed to play strong defensively and try and get into some sort of flow," said Blank. "Instead, we give up two goals — bang, bang — and we're back on our heels again.
"It's frustrating, because I thought we played better than the final score indicated," continued Blank, whose team has now been outscored 14-0 in its first two games. "From a possession standpoint, I thought we controlled the ball for as long as (River Falls) did — we just didn't have anything to show for it on the scoreboard."
Despite the lopsided outcomes of their first two games, Blank has been able to find the Cardinals' silver lining – improved play.
"We're going to keep plugging along, improving day by day, game by game," Blank said. "Obviously, nobody likes to get beat 9-0 or 5-0, but we've got to just continue to build on the positives, and that's what we're going to keep doing."
