UMC Women’s Soccer Falls to MSU-Mankato

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) women’s soccer team allowed 33 shots in an 8-0 loss against #22 Minnesota State-Mankato in an NSIC match played at the UMC Soccer Field in Crookston.
9:02 into the match, Alesha Duccini (Jr., Dubuque, IA) scored on a close-range shot after receiving a pass from Abby Hausken (Sr., Oakdale) to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead. MSU-Mankato added a second goal just 6 minutes later after Morgan Cottew (Sr., Minneapolis) received a pass from Dakota Wendell (Jr., Castle Rock, CO) and slotted a shot into the left side of the net giving the Mavericks a 2-0 lead. The lead grew to 3-0 in the 23^rdminute after Dakota Wendell scored from close-range giving the visitors a 3-0 lead.  UMC was limited to just two shots on goal in the first half while the Mavericks turned five shots on target into a 3-0 lead after the opening 45 minutes.
In the second half, Dakota Wendell capitalized off a UMC turnover dribbling towards the net before slipping a shot into the net giving the Mavericks a 4-0 lead. Morgan Cottew added a fifth goal in the 55^thminute of an assist from Morgan Seemuth (Sr., Clive, IA) pushing the MSU-Mankato lead to 5-0. The lead grew to 6-0 in the 61^stminute after Caitlin Brown (Highlands Ranch, CO) scored her first goal of the season. 24-seconds later, MSU-Mankato scored again as Jenny Vetter (Fr., Mankato) broke through the Golden Eagles back line depositing the Mavericks seventh goal of the match into the net. MSU-Mankato scored their eighth goal when Brooke Valiukas (R-Fr., Woodbury) scored from the right side on the edge of the box from 20-yards away closing out the Mavericks’ 8-0 win. “Athletically, they’re just better than us,” said UMC head coach Joe Alianiello. “They play four up top and they can wear you out and I thought we had some bad breakdowns in the second half, I thought the first half was ok. Once you give up the fourth and the fifth (goals) our heads drop a little bit and go from there. Honestly, I thought our effort was good the whole game, they’re just a good team. They’re better than us right now. They’re the 22^ndranked team in the nation for a reason.”
The Golden Eagles fall to 1-10-2 overall and 1-7-2 in NSIC play. Minnesota Crookston returns to the pitch on Sunday when UMC hosts Concordia-St. Paul at 1 p.m. Minnesota State-Mankato improves to 11-1-1 overall and 9-0-1 in conference play.

Scoring
9:02 – MSUM – Alesha Duccini (Abby Hausken)
15:31 – MSUM – Morgan Cottew (Dakota Wendell)
22:29 –  MSUM – Dakota Wendell (Bri Ciaccio)
48:23 –  MSUM –  Dakota Wendell
55:00 –  MSUM –  Morgan Cottew  (Morgan Seemuth)
61:36 –  MSUM –  Caitlin Brown  (Brynn Desens)
62:00 –  MSUM –  Jenny Vetter  (Nadia Lowery)
80:15 –  MSUM –  Brooke Valiukas