Rustlers Women's Soccer | Weekend Recap - Sept 7 & 8, 2019

The Rustlers Women's Soccer team 2019-2020 season started on the road at King's University. TheY were looking for a hot start with a youthful group of girls and new coaching staff.

A new coach and practically a new team would allow for the team to have a fresh start. The King's University Eagles would prove to be a tough task. The Rustlers have only three players with experience in the ACAC and at the college level. There is a large need for leadership from everyone on and off the field. 

The Eagles came out strong against the young Rustlers, scoring four in the first half. This would prove to give the Eagles the momentum they needed, as they added three more goals to close the game out with a final score of 7-0.

With the lop-sided score, the rustlers had to have a quick turnaround for Saturday's game and shift their focus, which could be hard for such a young group of girls.

Sunday the Rustlers welcomed the Concordia Thunder to their home field. On a gloomy day, the Rustlers came out hungry for their first goal of the season as well as their first point. They looked to improve in areas that they struggled with on Saturday to help their gameplay.

The Rustlers came out firing, scoring in the fifth minute of the game thanks to an effort by first-year Kimberlea Pfeil. This goal would give the girls some momentum as they scored on their first shot of the game. Along with the excitement of scoring their first goal of the season, the team was ready for the oncoming pushes Concordia would throw at them. They were able to hold the lead for the first-half while applying a lot of offensive pressure.

First-year Natasha Luedtke was also a large contributor for the Rustlers defense to hold the Eagles off. She was incredibly vocal in the back field which helped the Rustlers hold the lead into the second half.

The Concordia Thunder strike back early in the second half which seemed to suck some life out of the Rustlers. Rustlers' Davis Bone wasn't fazed by the Eagle's goal, scoring only minutes later. The Rustlers kept pushing. Davis Bone was able to keep the Eagles' defense under pressure and allowing them to slow the game down. This proved critical for the Rustlers to slow the game down against a strong offensive team in the Thunder.

The Rustlers would give away penalty kick late in the second half which would end up tying the game at 2. With what seemed to have sucked the life out of the girls, the Thunder scored a quick goal in the closing minutes to win the game and push the Thunder past the Rustlers at 2-1.

The young squad has much to learn, but with a new leader in their coach, and a group of talented young girls, there is a bright future ahead for Rustlers' soccer.