The monkey is off their back.
The women’s soccer team finally got their second win of the season in dramatic fashion on Tuesday night against CSU Bakersfield. It was their first win since Aug. 13, and their first overtime win in six tries.
“A bunch of the girls were crying after the game,” senior goalkeeper Lauren Sack said about the victory. “It was the best feeling ever.”
A week before that game, UVU faced off against then No. 9 BYU and were able to hold off the team to a single goal in 90 minutes. This was a huge momentum shift for the Wolverines, even though they lost the game and their next game against Loyola Marymount.
“We decided the night before we went to the field,” Sack said. “Nobody can leave until we knew the outcome of the game. We all sat there and talked about it. It showed on the field that we were ready.”
Head coach Brent Anderson couldn’t be more proud of his girls, expressing how hard they’ve been working throughout this season.
“I was actually wanting it to go into overtime,” Anderson said. “I wanted us to win in overtime because we’ve been so unlucky there. I knew we were going to win that game.”
The Wolverines had gone on a 10-game losing streak with four of those losses coming in overtime. But with this victory, the Wolverines are looking to bounce back just in time for conference play.
UVU hosted NJIT this past Friday, their first home game in 22 days, but are back on the road now to face Howard and SC State this week.
The game against CSU Bakersfield marked many firsts for the Wolverines. It was the first time this season they got a victory in overtime. They were 0-4-1 in overtime matches this season. It was the first career goal for true freshman Lexi Feris, who headed it into the back of the net for the overtime winner. It was also Sack’s first clean sheet of the season since returning from her season-starting shoulder injury.
“I feel great,” Sack said. “It’s back to normal again, finally. It’s like a start of a new season. We hopefully get a lot of shutouts and score a bunch of goals.”
Looking forward, the Wolverines still have that preseason goal in mind they made many months ago: to win the GWC Tournament and retain their title.
“The goal is to remain conference champions,” Anderson said. “We are hosting it this year. We know the competition will be very tough and we know there are very high expectations. The girls are aware of what it takes and they’re prepared to battle for it and get it.”
The Wolverines will stay on the road until Oct. 26 before returning home to host their final two games of the season against Montana and Delaware State. They will host the Conference Tournament starting Nov. 2.
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