St. Scholastica 2, Yellowjackets 1
SUPERIOR, Wis.: As the 2018 women's soccer season unfolds, it's looking more and more like the Yellowjackets have no concern for anyone's cardiac health. This is evidenced by the fact that the Yellowjackets have habitually found themselves in tight contests, with matches hinging on a single play and being decided by the thinnest of margins.
Their last six times out, and seven times in their last eight matches the Yellowjackets have found themselves in one-goal matches. The one outlier came a little over two weeks ago when the Yellowjackets dropped a 5-0 match at St. Scholastica.
Tuesday night the Saints made the return to trip to Superior, and the Yellowjackets again found themselves in a nail biter, a dramatic turn from the first time the two teams met. Unfortunately, even though the match was much closer the result turned out to be the same. St. Scholastica scored an early goal and made it hold up to earn the 1-0 win before a boisterous crowd of 173 at the N.B.C. Spartan Sports Complex.
The Saints scored the only goal of the match in the 12th minute when Janelle Rouillard sent the ball on a cross to the middle of the box where Becca Rancour chipped it past Yellowjacket goalkeeper
Madison Gutekunst (Mound, Minn./Mound Westonka), giving the Saints the 1-0 lead. From there the Yellowjacket defense clamped down.
Later in the first half it appeared that the Yellowjackets would get a golden opportunity to tie the match when
Claire Smith (Hayward, Wis./Hayward) was fouled inside the St. Scholastica box. But instead of receiving a penalty kick, officials ruled instead Smith committed the foul and the Saints received possession. Just over a minute later the Saints had the great opportunity to build on the lead, but Rachel Dixon was foiled on a great leaping save by Gutekunst.
After the break the Saints began to apply significant pressure, but every good opportunity was met by a better save from Gutekunst. As time wound down in the second half the Saints pinned the Yellowjackets on their half of the field, not allowing them to generate the offense needed to tie the match. The Yellowjackets received possession in the final minute, but were unable to press the ball downfield for a scoring chance, allowing the Saints to secure the win.
The Yellowjackets had three shots in the match, two of which forced Saints goalkeeper Roni Rudolph to make saves.
Annah Schussman (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) had both shots on goal for the Yellowjackets.
Gutekunst was brilliant in goal for the Yellowjackets, making her third straight start and finishing the night with 10 saves, many of them difficult. Her record for the year now stands at 1-4-0.
Up Next: The Yellowjackets (2-7-1, 2-4-0 U.M.A.C.) will be home Saturday, October 6 when they host Crown College. The match will kick off at 4:30 p.m. at the N.B.C. Spartan Sports Complex.
