Jamestown, N.D. – The University of Jamestown women's soccer team extended their winning streak to three games after they defeated the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles 2-1 Sunday afternoon at Charlotte and Gordon Hansen Stadium.
After three consecutive home wins, Jamestown improves to .500 with a 4-4-1 overall record and a 4-2 mark in the NSIC. The Golden Eagles drop to 0-6-3 overall and 0-5-1 in the conference.
The ball was in the Crookston end of the field for almost the entirety of the first 10 minutes. The Jimmies had a couple of corner kicks and two shots by
Kyah Gabel, but nothing too dangerous. The Golden Eagles were then able to get some nice ball possession in the UJ zone, putting on three shots, one of them needing to be saved by
Taylor Musser.
Heading into the 26
th minute,
Marisa Brown sent a long ball up into the zone of the Golden Eagles.
Bre Oettle got a handle on it and sent it up the field to
Julliet Lopez. Lopez sprinted past all the Crookston defenders, took it down inside the 6-yard-box, and got a shot off hounded by two defenders, scoring her fourth goal of the season low right past Phoenix DeBrusk.
With a 1-0 lead now, the Jimmies did not let up. They had a few other shots in the period, but some great chances in the final minute of play. Working the ball up the field after a goal kick,
Oriana Borrome was open down the right side. She took a shot from about 15 yards out that DeBrusk made a diving save on. The ball deflected out in front of the net to
Lucia Serrano, and she too had a great look, though DeBrusk made another spectacular save to keep the game scoreless.
Halftime ended with total shots 8-4 through 45 minutes with Jamestown ahead 6-1 in shots on net.
Crookston though, wasted no time getting right back into the game. After a couple of good chances on free kicks, the Golden Eagles got on the board in the 49
th minute. Elise Lefers beat everyone on the Jamestown team down the left sideline. Lefers was able to cut into the middle of the field in a dangerous area and centered the ball to Sydney Christopherson at point-blank scoring range inside the box. Christopherson took advantage and one-timed it into the net on a ball that Musser had no chance of stopping. This was first goal of the season for the Golden Eagles after 768 minutes of nothing as they tied it up 1-1.
Crookston had another great opportunity in the 65
th minute. A bad Jamestown turnover in their own zone led the Golden Eagles to send a cross pass to the left side of the field inside the Jimmies box.
Taylor Musser and Aleisha Cortez both raced after the ball, and Cortez got to it first, but Musser dived and blocked the shot away as UJ survived the opportunity.
After this opportunity and the game looking a bit scary from Jamestown,
Gaby Lopez came in and saved the day. In the 66
th minute,
Julliet Lopez controlled the ball around midfield on the right side, then sent a pass up the middle looking for
Gaby Lopez. The ball would have likely been turned away had a Crookston defender not slipped trying to change directions. This left Lopez one-on-one with one of the top goalies in the NSIC, but it was the sophomore from Waseca, Minn. that emerged on top. Lopez took it a couple of yards inside the box to draw DeBrusk out of the net, then sent it low left with DeBrusk diving but unable to reach it as Lopez got her first goal of the season to put the Jimmies out on top 2-1.
With Jamestown back into control, they had a fend off one more stand by the Golden Eagles in the 78
th minute in which Lefers took a great look that clanked off the right post and the Jimmies booting the resulting ball out of bounds.
The Golden Eagles had a few more shots in the final 10 minutes, but Musser only needed to make one more save on an attempt well outside of the danger zone. Jamestown went on to sweep the weekend with a 2-1 gritty win over the Golden Eagles.
Julliet Lopez scored her fourth goal in six games while also recording her first assist of the season.
Gaby Lopez's game-winner was her first-ever goal. With a helper, Oettle has an assist in three straight games now.
Total shots ended at 14-11 Jamestown, though Crookston had a 7-6 advantage in shots in the second half. Shots on goal were won by UJ 9-4 with corner kicks being 6-2 in favor of the Jimmies. Musser made three saves on four shots to get her third win of the season.
UJ will next head down to South Dakota to play the Sioux Falls Cougars in a big road test on Friday, October 2 at 7 p.m.
