The Colorado Mesa University women’s soccer team left Texas victorious last Thursday, and then decided to keep the train going when they returned home. On Sunday against Western Colorado University, CMU took their first home victory of the year in a 2-1 dub over the Mountaineers.
“Our focus has been getting better every day at practice and in games. We are working on consistency in our play and maintaining a high level for 90 minutes,” Head Coach Dani Thurman said.
All the hard work, focus and attention to detail that the team has been working on in practices throughout the preseason while being overseen by Director of Soccer Operations Todd Padget has added up to the first two wins of the year. The Mavericks came out of the locker room ready for a battle against their Western Slope foe.
Both the CMU and Western defense were good enough to keep zeros on the scoreboard until the 21st minute of the game.
The first goal of the game belonged to sophomore Taylor Jones who saw a pass from the forward Sydney Hathaway and she was able to get a good read on and got around defenders to put the ball in the back of the net. It would put the Mavericks on the scoreboard and allow them to keep the 1-0 going into halftime.
“The first goal was very important to set the tone of the match for us to be on the front foot,” Thurman said. “For the second half, our focus was on maintaining a high level in our play and communication when we are a bit fatigued. We made some changes to the backline to keep them fresh.”
The second half was full of defensive standoffs as the Mavericks or Mountaineers did not score until late into the half. The veterans on this team helped seal the victory as forward Zoe Peterson shot and scored the first goal of her senior season.
“Going into this game into the next few games that we have it is important to eliminate the mistakes we made today and learn how to be consistent in managing the match when we are ahead,” Thurman said.
The Maverick’s next two games will continue nonconference play as they will play Nebraska-Kearney and then Newman University next Friday and Sunday at Walker Field before they start to play RMAC opponents the rest of the season.
