MILWAUKEE – In a battle to the wire, Mount Mary University soccer lost to visiting Eureka College at Mount Mary Field 3-2. The loss moves the Blue Angels to 0-2, and evens up the Devils record at 2-2.
The Blue Angels got things going early on the hot and muggy day. Ashley Pfeifer (Fr./Elkhart Lake, Wis.) knocked in the first goal of the season for MMU off a setup from Karina Salgado (Fr./Chicago, Ill.) 12:13 into the game. It was the first lead of the season for the Blue Angels.
At the 29 minute mark, the Red Devils came back with a goal of their own off the foot of Kayleigh Choma evening up the score at 1-1.
With time ticking off the clock in the first half, Pfeifer got another good pass from Salgado, which led to Pfeifer slipping past the defense and booting one past the goalkeeper to take the lead 2-1.
MMU kept the lead going until just 79:59 when Faith Williams got the Blue Angels defense off balance and hit a shot past Becky Onan (So./Grafton, Wis.) to tie things up. Just five minutes later the Red Devils had a similar setup for Williams who snuck another shot beyond the reach of Onan, taking the lead at 3-2. Eureka held on from there and went on to win.
"I am proud of the steps the team took forward. We were much more organized as a team." Head coach Jon Gulrajani went on about the silver linings in the game, "We created and finished off a couple of chances today. The next step for the team is just learning to finish off a game when we have a lead. I am extremely excited about how we moved forward and how the group put forth a lot of energy today."
A tough loss for MMU, but the organization and discipline of this year's team has to have fans excited of what is to come. The next game for the Blue Angels will be at Alverno Field, where the Inferno look to reignite the rivalry. That game is scheduled for Wed. Sept. 9 at 4:00 pm.
