Despite battling to a scoreless tie in the first half, a second-half barrage was too much to handle for goaltender Tarynn Theilig and the St. Thomas women’s soccer team, which suffered a 3-0 loss to Pacific Lutheran University Thursday at South Field.
After breezing past Wisconsin-Stevens Point 5-0 Tuesday to start the season, Theilig said Thursday’s match was a completely different scenario.
“Against Stevens Point I only got one shot and I feel like I got 20 shots against this team,” Theilig said. “I like games where I get to make some saves, but at the same time it’s good that our defense can see some situations they’ll need to step up in.”
Two quick goals at the start of the second half put the Lutes up for good in the game. Forward Kaylie Rozell scored just over a minute into the stanza to put Pacific Lutheran up 1-0, while forward Machaela Graddy doubled the Lutes’ lead with a goal just over a minute later.
Although the back line has veteran help, the 2015 St. Thomas roster features just six upperclassmen on a team of 29. The mix of experience levels is something Theilig thinks will be useful further into the season.
“Defensively I think we learned a lot from this game. We played a team that was really fast up top and we hadn’t really seen that,” Theilig said. “By the mistakes that we did make, we’ll be able to critique in further games, which will be beneficial down the line.”
After scoring twice in the Tommies’ opening-game rout, sophomore forward Brielle Bierman was held off the scoresheet against the Lutes. Offensively, she said St. Thomas struggled to keep passes crisp, resulting in few quality scoring chances.
“Last game we had a lot of quick connections with passing and we could pick the other team apart with the quick passes, one-touches,” Bierman said. “This game we were just a lot slower, taking more touches than we normally do, not connecting it.”
Pacific Lutheran added to its lead on a goal by midfielder Krista Morford in the 62nd minute of the match. While the Tommie defense surrendered three straight goals, the offense could only muster 3 shots on goal against the Lutes. Bierman attributed the lack of offensive production to the Tommies’ difficulty connecting on passes.
“When we lose those quick passes, the forwards, (midfielders) lose momentum, and it makes it hard to connect our play … wasn’t the best game for us, but we’ll have a better one,” she said.
Just two games into the season, coach Sheila McGill is not worried about her young team. She’s seen promise and progress going forward.
“I think the leadership know where they need to be at, it’s hard to have so many freshmen be able to step in. But they are stepping in and doing good things that we’re seeing,” McGill said. “So now it’s just a matter of turning it into a learning process, which the upperclassmen are doing a great job with bringing that together.”
St. Thomas will look to rebound from the loss when it travels to Waverly, Iowa on Wednesday to play Wartburg College.
Jake Remes can be reached at reme7110@stthomas.edu.