The Washburn women’s soccer team kicked off the 2024 season with a 2-0 loss to the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
The match took place Thursday, Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. in Yager Stadium. A huge crowd of family and friends came to support and filled the atmosphere with excitement.
With Washburn starting on the offensive, the first half began with a steady volley. Despite Washburn attempting multiple shots, Missouri-St. Louis made the first goal and set the score to 1-0. Near the end of the first half, Washburn made several attempts to steal and center the ball for a goal but had no success. The first half ended with a steady pace between both teams.
The second half began similarly to the first one, but the stakes were much higher. Washburn was close to scoring again, but it was blocked by the opposing goalkeeper. Later on, Washburn made another attempt at a goal but it was also unsuccessful. In the last couple of minutes, Missouri-St. Louis made a goal and ended the match at 2-0.
Despite the loss, Head Coach Davy Phillips thought the team did well. He emphasized how taking risks and making winning moments is how to define the game.
“I think we gave the ball away too often, and then when we got in the final third, we didn’t do enough to capitalize on–we did a decent job creating scoring chances, but not capitalizing on the scoring chance and turning a 60-40% shot into maybe a 70-30 with a [fake] and then a finish,” Phillips said.
Aubrey Tanksley, junior forward, is looking forward to future games.
“I’m pretty excited about it. I mean, obviously tonight we didn’t get the win, but I think I’m excited to see what comes in this season,” Tanksley said.
Riley Wells, senior forward, is proud of her performance and feels optimistic about what the season will bring.
“I feel good about my performance,” Wells said. “I think there’s a lot of room to grow throughout the season, as for everyone, as a team, as a whole, but I feel good about my performance.”
Phillips plans to help his players improve as the season goes on.
“It’s their first game, so there’s still tons of season to grow into. I never want my team peaking on the first game of the season, obviously,” Phillips said. “This was good. It gave us a lot of things where we could walk away [and] now we know what we have to get better at.”
You can view stats, schedules and other information about the Washburn women’s soccer team at wusports.com.
Edited by Jeremy Ford and Morgan Albrecht
