September 16, 2015 By Josh Sinclair
After dropping the first game of the 2015 season the ’Hawks have come out and been victorious in its next four matches leaving its record at 4-1 to start this young season.
“Illinois-Wesleyan is always a great litmus test,” head coach Ryan Quamme said. “I thought we played really well, but in a game like that, you can just see where you need to improve, and we have.”
The Warhawks squared off against No. 4 ranked Illinois-Wesleyan in its first game.
Illinois-Wesleyan got on the board in the 15th minute with a header from Titans forward Emily Snider. The ’Hawks countered by attacking on its offensive half of the field, taking two shots and getting three corner kicks over the course of the next seven minutes, but were unable to make up the deficit.
The ’Hawks got on the board for the first time in just nine minutes against the Saints of St. Scholastica. Junior forward Brianna Reid received a pass from Morgan Beaty and put it in the back of the net.
“Brianna is finishing everything, this is definitely the kind of start to a season you love to see,” Quamme said.
Seventeen minutes later, freshman Larissa Dooley scored the second goal of the Warhawks season and her first goal at the collegiate level.
“I remember my first goal in college and it was so exciting, it’s so fun other girls score there’s because you can see how excited they are, it’s a special moment,” midfielder Marie Lesperance said.
Freshman goalie Erin Doody kept her two-goal cushion by making one of her two saves in the game in the 70th minute and ended the final scoring effort for the Saints.
Concordia-Moorhead was the challenger in the Advantage Emblem Cup title game and the Cobbers got off to a fast start, getting a shot on goal in the first minute, but Doody made the save. The Cobblers got on the board in the 32ndminute.
“Coming from behind isn’t what we want to do,” Lesperance said.” “It is always better to come out strong and get a lead. But, it says a lot about our team that we were able to rally and come out with a win against a good team.”
The Warhawks recovered by scoring twice in the second half to take the game. A foul in the second half gave the Warhawks a penalty kick and senior midfielder Jenna Woodson scored it. Then, just three minutes later Reid scored her second goal of the season and gave the Warhawks the lead they would need to finish off the Cobbers.
After a three-game road trip, Whitewater finally returned for their first game in the state this year.
The Warhawks faced off against the Vikings of North Park both this season and last season. In just those two games, Reid has six goals.
It didn’t take long for Reid to get on the board. It actually only took her two minutes. Then another two minutes to score her second. And all the way until the 16th minute to score her third.
The Warhawks went on to win 8-0 to improve to 3-1 this season.
“The way that we’ve played this year is really fun,” Lesperance said. “We have come together and definitely have the makings of a good team.”
After another two goals from Reid the ’Hawks went up 2-0 early on against the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Then another two goals were tacked on by Carly Pottle to put the game out of reach. The Warhawks were able to score one in the 76th minute to finish the game with a 5-0 score.
Up next for the Warhawks is a match at 4 p.m. on Sept. 16 in Mequon, Wisconsin.