Renee Rosenow

With a 15-1-3 record in the regular season, the UW-Eau Claire women’s soccer team has established themselves as one of the elite programs in the country.

The season began in late August as the team took on two highly ranked opponents from Texas. Eau Claire was able to come away from these games with a tie against Hardin Simmons (Tex.) and a hard fought 3-2 victory against Trinity University (Tex.).

From there, the Blugolds rattled off five more consecutive wins in a row, ending Sept. 20 with a 1-1 tie against national powerhouse Wheaton College (Ill.).

After that, Eau Claire went on another winning streak that eventually lasted six games and catapulted the Blugolds to the 3rd-ranked team in the country. These two winning streaks, with the tie in the middle, set the school record for consecutive games in a row without a loss at 14.

The first, and only, loss of the season followed the streak as the Blugolds fell to Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival, UW-Stevens Point. In a low scoring affair, the Pointers were able to dish out a 1-0 defeat that really stuck in the minds of Eau Claire players.

“It wasn’t so much that we lost a game,” senior goalkeeper Allie Rivard said. “It was that we lost to them, and as a result, we couldn’t host the first two rounds of the conference tournament.”

The Blugolds then won three more games, before ending the season last Sunday at St. Thomas (Minn.) with a 1-1 tie.

Eau Claire’s offense was led by one of the best scorers in the country, senior Amy Smith, who finished the season with 18 goals and four assists.

“She’s just an awesome player,” freshman Rachel Nerison said. “It definitely helped with my success having such a talented person next to me.”

Rivard had similar remarks to add about Smith.

“She has been our scoring threat all season,” Rivard said. “She works harder than any player on the field to get all those goals when we needed them.”

Nerison statistically had a remarkable year herself, especially for a freshman, and ended up starting 14 of the 19 games played this season. She put in 12 goals and added five assists to slot her spot in a tie for the second most points on the team, behind Smith.

“It’s always good to know people all over the field can score goals, whether they’re a freshman or a senior,” Smith said. “I’m so happy for her and I know she’s going to do great.”

Part way through the season, senior sweeper Ali Smith went down with an injury, and the chemistry on defense was forced to change. Senior Allison Muer was forced to switch from midfield to sweeper and Rivard needed to be a stronghold in the back.

“It’s been huge having (Rivard) on the team,” Smith said. “I really just could not imagine playing this season without her.”

Next up for the Blugolds is the first round of the conference tournament, which will be a home game at 2 p.m. on Saturday against UW-Oshkosh. If they prevail, they will play the second and championship rounds of the tournament the following weekend at UW-Stevens Point.

All three players agreed they would love to make it to the national championship, but that it is very important they don’t get too far ahead of themselves.

“We’re just going to take it one game at a time and not look too far ahead,” Nerison said. “The only thing we’re looking at right now is our game on Saturday against Oshkosh.”