UW-Whitewater women’s soccer lost 5-0 to the UW-La Crosse Eagles at home Saturday, Oct. 12 in a brisk afternoon WIAC matchup.
The game started off with an hour and a half weather delay, pushing the original 2 p.m. start time to 3:35 p.m. featuring a downpour of rain and a lightning-filled sky over Fiskum Field.
“It certainly made things difficult to manage in terms of staying engaged before kickoff and the delay we went through,” head coach Dan Montanye said. “It didn’t seem to effect us as we came out really strong to start the game, and that’s impressive after dealing with an hour and a half delay.”
Both teams displayed a high-intensity defensive battle in the first half, before a goal from La Crosse senior midfielder Ellie Arndt placed the Eagles first in the score column.
Following the low-scoring affair in the first half, La Crosse’s offense scored four goals in the second half.
“Very strong first half where we stayed disciplined defensively and broke out well on our counter attacking opportunities,” Montanye said. “Some really good moments in the second half as well but we had some breakdowns that (La Crosse) capitalized on.”
Senior midfielder Chelsea Gale scored the Eagles’ second goal of the game within seconds at the start of the second half, putting La Crosse up 2-0. Between an extended period of back-and-fourth defense, freshman midfielder Kate Heiderscheit added on to the scoring onslaught for the Eagles, putting them up 3-0 midway through the second half. Seven minutes after Heiderscheit’s goal, junior midfielder Lucy Quidzinski scored La Crosse’s fourth goal of the game, followed by a fifth and final goal from sophomore defender Emily Pikarski for the Eagles.
Despite the loss, the Warhawks remain optimistic towards future matchups.
“We can compete with anyone when we play to the level we’re capable of,” Montanye said. “We matched La Crosse for large portions of the game including the entire first half.”
La Crosse came into Saturday’s matchup as the highest scoring WIAC team, scoring 2.8 goals a game, with Whitewater coming in fifth at 1.6 goals per game.
La Crosse also holds the best record in the WIAC, now sitting at 2-0-1, followed by UW-River Falls in second at 2-1, UW-Platteville in third at 1-0-2, and Whitewater in fourth at 1-1-1.
The Warhawks will return home Oct. 23 against Platteville for a Wednesday night matchup against the Pioneers.
