Women’s soccer team advances in playoffs with 1-0 victory

The women’s soccer team defeated UW-La Crosse 1-0 in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday, advancing to the second round.

Kim Saufl scored the only goal, 36:11 into the first half.

With a loss to La Crosse, the Falcons finished the regular season in fourth place behind UW-Eau Claire, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stevens Point.

They had a 5-3-0 record in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) and a 10-6-2 record overall. The team’s best stretch came in September when they went 5-2-2, including a four game winning streak, in which they beat UW-Whitewater, UW-Superior, St. Catherine and Carleton.

The Falcons’ best offensive player is senior forward Ashley Peterson. She is leading the team in almost all offensive categories, with 17 goals, nine assists, five game-winning goals, and a .258 shooting percentage. She was named the WIAC Offensive Player of the Week on two separate occasions, the last week of September and the second week of October.

Also in October, Peterson was named to the Team of the Week at D3Kicks.com - an informational site on Div. III soccer.

“I had a great year and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls to play with,” Peterson said.

Senior midfielder and forward Kim Saufl is also having a very good year on offense. She is second on the team with 10 goals and eight assists, and had a .156 shooting percentage.

Other contributors on offense include Amy Jensen with five goals and eight assists, Julie
Sperstad with two goals and four assists, Jen Terry with three goals and one assist, and Jessi Larson with one goal. Larson was named the WIAC Defensive Player of the Week the first week of September when she scored the game-winning goal off a corner kick against Northland, which was also her first collegiate goal.

On defense, goalie Emily Stieler has been strong, playing every minute of every game.

On the year, she has allowed 1.19 goals per game. She also has 77 saves, seven shutouts and a .778 winning percentage.

It has been a great season for the Falcons thus far.

“We all work so well together and all our hard work throughout the season has paid off,” Peterson said.

With the win over La Crosse, the team will advance to the next round of the playoffs today, Friday.

The Falcons will face UW-Eau Claire at Eau Claire. The game is set to begin at 11 p.m. in the WIAC Playoff Semi-finals.