“We’re normally ranked at a bit above the halfway point in the conference,” said Coach Kurt Anderson. “We’ve only played seven matches so far, but things are going well. One of our goals this year is to move up a couple of spots.” So far the team has won seven of their nine conference matches and is going strong. This year’s team is a mix of both veterans and younger players. Some first years seeing a considerable amount of varsity play time are Chelsea Gordon, Meghan Ryerse, and starter Kara Olson, one of two goal keepers. The team finds strength in captains Becca Loerch ‘03 and Kerry Goldman ‘03 as well as Junior Brie Messick, who has been working hard to recover from knee surgery last spring. The team’s numerous successes are a testament to the hard work put in by both the players and Anderson.

Their ability to work well together has turned out to be one of the key factors in many of their wins. “We have a lot of good chemistry as a team,” said Anderson. “We may not have a superstar, but we stick together.” Anderson is in the midst of his second season coaching the Ole women’s team. He has coached the men’s varsity soccer team for 12 years and plans on continuing to do so. “We’re having a really good time this year,” said Anderson, “I didn’t know the kids as well last year, so this is nice.” The team faces several challenges this season. Trying to advance their ranking in an increasingly competitive conference will be a difficult one. In order to achieve this goal Anderson tries to keep practices focused on the shortcomings of their most recent game. It helps the team improve on the skills they need most at any given point in the season. “We try to increase consistency of play and do the right thing out there as many times as possible,” said Anderson. Anderson hoped for a strong performance at the team’s Sept. 28 game after a disappointing 1-0 loss to highly-ranked St. Benedict on the 21st. The team played well at the home game with good performances from many players. They came away with a 2-0 victory against Concordia.

They also played an away game against the Hamline Pipers at 4:00pm on Oct. 2nd. The women defeated the Pipers 2-0 thanks to goals from Maiken Overton ‘05 and Emily Klamm ‘05 in the 38th and 59th minutes, respectively.

Samantha Jensen ‘05 and Meghan Ryerse ‘06 provided assists to improve the team’s record to 7-2-0 in the MIAC and 3-1-0 overall. Their next game will be at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa on Oct. 9, where they have high hopes of attaining another victory. The Oles true test will come when they face the MIAC’s number-one ranked Macalester College on Oct. 11th at 7:30pm.

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