ST. LOUIS – The Maryville women's soccer team sent home the fans home happy on 2024 Homecoming, defeating Drury 2-1 to capture sole possession of first place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
The usual suspects,
Elsa Nilson-Hurtig and
Ashlyne Hunt combined for the Saints goals with
Lexi Gentry assisting on both.
The five-straight GLVC victories to start the season marks the best start in program history for conference play, with the previous best coming in 2019 where they began 3-0.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After early offense by the Panthers, Nilson-Hurtig responded and in a big way, playing a pass by Gentry right into the back of the net, for her seventh goal of the year, already tying her season best total in goals.
The Saints' lead was short lived however, as the Panthers' Holland Hawkins – the GLVC leader in goals scored – brought the equalizer. Despite the fresh ballgames, the energy of the Saints kept pushing as with only two minutes left on the clock, Hunt found the back of the net for her sixth goal of the season.
With a 2-1 lead out of the break, the backline of the home squad shined bright as the Saints shut down the Panthers, handing them their first loss of the season.
CRUNCHIN' NUMBERS
- The Panthers were plagued in the fouls game, committing 13 on the day to the Saints 8.
- Hunt, despite seeing just two minutes against Missouri S&T on Friday, recorded 50 minutes off the bench.
- The Saints only subbed three times in the contest, with eight players recording 90 minutes performances.
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Lotte Brands recorded her second-straight game with a shot on goal.
DAWG TALK
Head Coach Lori Lawson on the big homecoming victory…
"It's a huge win for us. Drury is an incredible team, and we knew that we had to play a near perfect game to beat a team like that. We came in with a lot of energy and a lot of fight and I'm just really proud of the performances that the team had today."
Lawson on the resiliency of the team to bounce back from the tough conditions of Friday…
"It was a quick turnaround, we lost a couple players over the weekend, but it's a great opportunity for other players to step up for the team, to come together and find a way to get it done."
Nilson-Hurtig on her scoring success this season…
"My finishing is working really well, but also the overall finishing for the team in general, we 've scored so many goals in these seven games so far, so it's really fun, we're keeping the defense good while also scoring."
Nilson-Hurtig on avenging the earlier tie to Drury…
"It's amazing, honestly, our energy was just great today and that's what beat them, we came out hungry."
UP NEXT
The homestand closes for the Saints as they will travel to UMSL on Friday, Oct. 4 with action set to begin at 5 p.m.
