Three Gorlok captains sat in their warmup uniforms for the entirety of the Webster University women’s soccer victory over Eureka College (Ill.) on Sept. 28. Webster won 5-0 with nine players not in full uniform due to injury.
Captains and seniors, defender Kristen Muehlenfeld and midfielder Ally Nikolaus both took the bench due to lower body injuries. Senior midfielder Amy Schield, usually assigned with marking the opposing team’s best forward, also sat due to a quad injury. This game was the first game of the season that Muehlenfeld and Schield have missed. Muehlenfeld said a lot of the injured players sat so they can be healthy for the next game against Greenville College (Ill.) on Oct. 5.
Webster’s trainer Lori Khazen handed out 18 bags of ice to Webster players after the game. She said the team has been unlucky this season. But she believes, with a week to recover, most players should be ready for the Greenville game.
Junior forward Kristin Montgomery scored her fourth goal of season and tied for a game high four points. She began the season with an injury, and said it’s nice to not need the ice pack.
Associate coach Mike Hutchison said their opponent played into the reason so many players didn’t dress for the game.
“A few of them could of played had it been urgent playing against a Principa (University, Ill.) or a Greenville,” Hutchison said. “We felt like the other players were more than capable of handling the assignments and they did.”
Montgomery said she could hear the captains supporting and coaching from the sidelines.
The offensive is run through Nikolaus in the center midfield and Hutchison said with out her and the captains the team didn’t flow as well.
“(The rest of the team) got better has the half went on,” Hutchison said. “Sometimes the play was slow to develop. But they made the easy plays when they needed to, that lead to all the opportunities they had.”
The next home game against Greenville is the rivalry game Muehlenfeld said. The game has been marked by senior captain Katie Aubuchon as her expected arrival on the field since the 2012 season. She tore three ligaments in her knee during a game on Oct. 7. Aubuchon has yet to participate in a full practice but the decision for her to play is between her and Khazen, Hutchison said.
Muehlenfeld said the team will have an extra motivation in that game with or without Aubuchon.
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