Nila Horner
Staff Writer
The ladies of the Colorado College soccer team are on fire. Currently competing with a blazing 17-game unbeaten home streak, (16-0-1), the Tigers have swept the competition away. Last weekend, the amazing athletes that make up our 2014-2015 women’s soccer team accomplished a win against Weber State and a tie against powerhouse Marquette in the Colorado College Invitational.
Early in the second half of their match against Weber State on Friday, CC controlled the field and produced an astounding four goals in just a little more than eight minutes! During this second game in the CC Invitational at Stewart Field, our team achieved a 5-2 victory. This game extended their unbeaten home streak to 16 matches, which dates back to a match against the University of Memphis in 2012.
Kaeli Vandersluis proved to be instrumental to the match, as she assisted on freshman Maddi Dunn’s first career goal in the first half of the match and earned her sixth career game winning goal in the second half.
“It felt really good that we were able to get on the board first,” Vandersluis commented on the CC Tigers website. “I struggled a little during the first 15 minutes, but I was able to get around the defender and get the ball to Maddi.”
With a goal and an assist, Vandersluis climbed into sole possession of 12th place for all-time points. She now has 56 career points and is tied with Tiffany Brown (2007-10) for 11th place with 16 career assists.
“I was impressed with how Weber State battled with us,” Head Coach Geoff Bennett said on Saturday to the CC Athletic Communications Department. “That’s a good team, and they made things difficult for us. It’s no surprise they were in the NCAA Tournament last year. Marquette is going to be a great challenge for us on Sunday.”
Bennett continued, “They are going to press the tempo, make things difficult for us athletically, and test us technically. Marquette might be our biggest test up to this point in the season, so we’ll see how we handle it.”
As Bennett predicted, the game against Marquette was a challenging endeavor for all involved. Marquette dominated the first half of the game preceding an almost hour-long lightning delay. After the delay, however, the Tigers came back in full force.
“They were the better team in the first half,” said head coach Geoff Bennett. “It took us a while to adjust to their athleticism and physicality. It was physicality in a good way, challenging everything, being great in the air and beating us to a lot of second balls. We finally got going and got better as the game progressed.”
While both teams finished with 18 attempted goals, neither team was able to penetrate the other’s defense. Only the 20th scoreless tie in the division’s history, Sunday’s contest did, however, sustain the loss-less home streak, making our team 16-0-1.
Colorado College’s quest to continue their undefeated home streak will be challenged again tonight, Sept. 12, when the Tigers take on Oakland University at 7 p.m. on Washburn Field. Come support our amazing athletes!