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Huskies Fall to Winona St. Friday night in Season Opener

Huskies Fall to Winona St. Friday night in Season Opener Play Video

HOUGHTON, Mich. – In a hard fought game by both teams, Winona State (Minn.) scored two late goals to slip past the Michigan Tech soccer team Friday night in the 2016 season opener at Sherman Field.  The Huskies' defense kept the Warriors at bay until goals in the 61st and 88th minutes broke what was a scoreless tie for the majority of the contest.

"The 2-0 outcome was not a grood depiction of how great of a game this was tonight," Tech Head Coach Michelle Jacob said. "Both teams battled so hard and I thought we did a great job creating scoring opportunities. I told the team afterwards that we are creating the opportunities and now we just have to finish them. I thought we were solid defensively from our goalkeeper and back lines all the way up to our forwards so I think there is a lot to be proud of."

Michigan Tech's (0-1-0) offense created a scoring chance early in the first half when Kathryn Farkas headed a ball in front of the net. Winona State (1-0-0) goalie Rachel Oleson managed to step in front of the shot to prevent the Huskies from taking an early edge.

Midway through the first half, Tech goalie Kirsen Hudak faced the first challenge from a Winona State attacker, turning away a blast by Taylor Richards in the 24th minute. Hudak picked up her second save of the night in the 41st minute denying Darian Molter to keep the score 0-0 going into the break.

Hudak made two more saves in the early moments of period number two, stopping shots from Meg Riebau and Hayley Bach. Unfortunately, the Warriors broke through a few minutes later when Molter found a crease in the Huskies defense and dribbled the ball to just outside the six-yard box. She found a spot in the corner of the net to make it a 1-0 game.

Michigan Tech went on the attack in an attempt to generate the equalizer. Jacqueline Mielke challenged Oleson in the 67th minute, but was denied by the Winona State keeper. Maddy Shortt followed a few minutes later with another shot on goal and the Huskies created some corner kick opportunities, but couldn't solve the Warriors defense.

Winona State added an insurance goal in the 88th minute when Courtney Wiencek took a quick pass from Molter and found the back of the net to secure the final score of 2-0.

Farkas led the Huskies with three shots, including one on goal, followed by Mielke, Sarah Boyd, and Shortt with one shot on goal each. Hudak ended the night with five saves. Michigan Tech had the advantage in corner kicks 5-0.

Molter powered the Warriors with two shots, a goal and one assist. Oleson ended the contest with four saves in 90 minutes.

Michigan tech will look to bounce back on Sunday when the team hosts St. Cloud State (Minn.) at Sherman Field. The kickoff is slated for 12 p.m.

"We are going to use all the good things we did tonight and build off of them as we head into Sunday's match," Jacob added. "It's early in the season and we have some work to do, but I think we put ourselves on a good starting platform."