Soccer gets first conference win

By Lauren Burbach

For the first time since Missouri Western’s inaugural women’s soccer season, the Griffons beat the Washburn Lady Blues 3-0 and clinched their first conference victory.
Missouri Western came out firing, taking six shots in the first half. Freshman Abby Widrig scored the Griffon’s first goal and sent the team into halftime up 1-0.

The Griffons didn’t let up during the second half. Widrig scored one more goal to put Western up 2-0, and junior Jessica Martin sealed the victory with one more goal to finish the game 3-0.

Western’s tough defense was a big factor in the victory.

“We defended really well,” head coach Jeff Hansen said. “I think Washburn had the ability to score goals and, so to shut out that team is pretty impressive. There are other teams in the conference that haven’t done it.”

Junior Mary Ohm agreed that the Griffon’s ability to pressure the Lady Blues helped them come out with the win.

“We came out firing right away and we put a lot of high pressure on them,” Ohm said. “I think they were a little panicky with the ball, so our high pressure allowed us to get some chances, and when we did get those chances, we were able to finish all of them.”

Finishing has been a challenge for the Griffons all year, and the fact that the team was able to capitalize on the opportunities given to them was a big step in the right direction.

“When we had chances to score, we took care of them,” Martin said. “We made the best of them, and we actually put the ball in the back of the net.”

Missouri Western had lost their home opener to Emporia State just two days before playing Washburn. According to Hansen, the ability of the team to bounce back from that tough loss was one of the most pleasing aspects of the weekend.

“It was good to see them respond that way,” Hansen said. “I think it tells us a lot about deep inside what kind of team we are. We can be that team that fights back from bad losses to win a game. So for them to play with confidence like they did on Saturday was great. We know that when we do things well we can be a great team.”

According to Martin, it felt great for the Griffons to be able to upset the Lady Blues on their home turf.
“It felt really good to win a home game, and it felt really good to beat a team that people don’t expect us to beat,” Martin said.

Missouri Western now improves to 1-3 in the MIAA and 3-5 overall. The Griffons play their next home game Thursday, Sept. 24 against the rival Northwest Bearcats. After already playing the Bearcats on their field once and losing, Missouri Western is looking for revenge.

“We have some changes that we’ve put together not specifically for Northwest but just that I think have made us a better team in the past week,” Hansen said. “So we’ll have that. We’re playing on the turf at home now so that helps.”

Ohm agreed and hopes that the Griffons can get even.

“Hopefully, since we lost last time, we’ll be more fired up to play them and want some revenge,” Ohm said.

Photo | Matthew Fowler