After a very close loss last Saturday the UW-Eau Claire women’s soccer team was able to bounce back and pick up a 2-0 win Wednesday against UW-Stout.

The loss last weekend was the first of the season for the Blugolds, and head coach Sean Yengo was very interested to see how his team would respond.

“We really needed to get back on our horse and start another streak,” Yengo said.

Yengo’s players also realized how important it was to rebound after their first defeat, and they wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to happen again.

“It was very, very important for us to bounce back after the loss in the conference,” senior goalkeeper Allie Rivard said. “We really just wanted to come out and get the win.”

The victory didn’t come easy for the Blugolds, who seemed to have trouble finding the net early in the game.

At halftime the score was tied at 0-0 as both teams failed to create a significant scoring opportunity. After not scoring for 163 minutes, stretching back to the last match, which was by far the longest draught of the season, the Blugolds tried to remain positive.

“Give us credit for not getting frustrated,” Yengo said. “After a tough loss Saturday it was like ‘oh my goodness, are we ever going to score?'”

Finally, in the 70th minute, Eau Claire was able to break through on a goal by freshman Rachel Nerison. The goal for Nerison was her ninth of the year, and her second game-winning goal of the season. It came on a pass from freshman Abby Meitzen who picked up the first assist of her career.

Play was very physical from that point on, as Stout tried to put in the equalizer, and Eau Claire worked to put more space between themselves and their opponent.

In the 82nd minute sophomore Megan Hillesheim was nearly able to add to the lead as a shot from well outside of the box landed just over the cross bar.

Just a minute later Stout was on the attack when they almost evened up the score of the game. A shot was taken and then tipped into the air by a Blugold defender.

As it was in the air, a Stout player headed the ball at the corner and Rivard was forced to make a game-saving stop.

“It was awesome to be able to keep a clean sheet there,” Rivard said.

With time winding down in the 90th minute, senior Amy Smith was able to put some space between the Blugolds and their opposition.

Smith got the ball and passed it to senior Liz Kooistra, who then gave the ball back to Smith.

Inside the six-yard box, Smith was able to place the ball into the corner to beat the Stout keeper for the Blugolds second goal of the game.

Rivard picked up her sixth shutout of the season, as Eau Claire was able to improve their record to 13-1-2 overall and 5-1 in the WIAC.

“We came out with a chip on our shoulder,” Nerison said. “The goal of every girl on the team was to come out strong today and show everyone that we’re back.”