By Julia Anderson
anderson14@grinnell.edu
Last Saturday, the Grinnell women’s soccer team defeated Beloit College 4-1 in the first game of the Midwest Conference this season. In addition to starting the conference games off strong, the team added to their winning streak against Beloit that began in 1988. Since then, women’s soccer has beaten Beloit in every game, with the exception of one tie.
“In my time at Grinnell, Beloit has always been a dangerous opponent. Maybe we’ve dominated on paper, but it’s the work rate and sustained intensity of the players that gets the job done on the field. This is the best Beloit team we’ve faced, which made this year’s win feel great. Plus, the goals we scored were pretty fun to watch,” head coach Kirsten Koester wrote in an email to The S&B.
Despite the impressive winning streak, most players claimed to be unaware of the history and focused instead on playing well for the first game of the conference. The greater motivation to win against Beloit came from the knowledge that Beloit had recently defeated Lake Forest, a major opponent for Grinnell in the conference.
“We were more focused on that, and I don’t think anyone even realized about the past,” said Elyse Salpekar ’19.
In the game, Grinnell established their dominance early on by scoring three goals in the first half and one goal in the second. Beloit scored once in the second half.
“We came out really strong in the first half, and the majority of the goals were scored early on in the first half. I think it set a really nice tone,” said Gwen Holtzman ’19.
After the success of the game, the team is feeling optimistic that they can advance far in the Midwest Conference, with the ultimate goal of hosting the tournament in November.
“You have to win most conference games, which I think is doable, and I think our team has a really good attitude after Saturday. People are pretty confident and feeling good,” said Jordan Maddaus ’19.
Although the team has now increased their winning streak against Beloit, they are determined to work harder than ever to achieve this goal.
“We need to stay focused on our process, which means we need to train against the best players in the league at each practice. It takes everyone on the squad to create that environment. On game day, as long as we are outworking our opponents and playing a high-energy game, we can be proud of the outcome. We have to show them why Grinnell is the toughest game on their schedule, and show them why we have so much GC PRIDE,” wrote Koester.
Despite the confidence following the past weekend, the players are careful to not let this success cloud their expectations of future games this season.
“There’s no game that is a probable win or a probable loss. It could go either way,” Holtzman said.
In order to continue their success, the team is prepared to support each other and motivate one another to play their very best.
“We talk a lot about different roles on the team, but I really want everyone to be able to contribute in the way that they want to contribute,” Salpekar said.
Women’s soccer plays Lake Forest College this Saturday at Springer Field.
