Penalty Kick Leads Blugolds Past Pioneers

October 19, 2013

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) — After finishing on the wrong side of back-to-back 1-0 games, the UW-Eau Claire women's soccer team reversed their fortune on Saturday with a 1-0 victory over UW-Platteville at Bollinger Field.

After playing five-straight games on the road, the Blugolds (5-6-3, 2-3-1) finally returned home. In a game that saw five yellow cards and one red card, it was a penalty kick by Allie Stone (Sr.-Madison, Wis./Verona) that led the Blugolds to the victory.

Neither team broke through in the first half, but there was an opportunity early for the Blugolds and they capitalized. UW-Eau Claire got a shot on goal off a corner kick that was saved, but a foul in the penalty box resulted in a penalty kick. Stone made the most of the opportunity and broke a scoreless streak that had spanned over two games.

Nina Behrenbrinker (Sr.-St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) kept the Pioneers (7-7-1, 2-2-1) off the board the rest of the way and finished with three saves to earn her third shutout of the season.

UW-Platteville received a yellow card in the first half, but they were plagued with them in the second half. They received three more yellow cards in the second half and finally another yellow card, followed by a red card was given to the bench of the Pioneers after the game came to an end.

The Pioneers outshot the Blugolds 12-11 and both teams finished with seven corner kicks each. The win was the first conference victory for UW-Eau Claire since they defeated UW-Stevens Point in overtime.

The Blugolds will be back in action again on Sunday at 3 p.m. They will welcome St. Thomas (Minn.) for a non-conference matchup at Bollinger Field.

-JM-