Tues., Aug. 28, 2007

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – What a difference a new week made for the University of Saint Francis women's soccer team.

  After going scoreless in two matches last week and another 70 minutes on Tuesday, a freshman broke the ice with the first Lady Cougar goal of the season and two different teammates added a pair of goals for a 3-0 win over Madonna University at Coonan Field.

   Katie Freygang, a freshman from Northrop High School, lifted a 25-yard direct kick over the Madonna keeper to give USF its first goal and first lead of the season. Just to leave no doubt, Laura Leffers added the second goal and Sara Thieme chipped in another to assure the USF win over the Crusaders (1-1-1).

  Madonna, playing its third consecutive game on the road to start the season,  was ranked No. 4 in Region VIII (pre-season). The Crusaders opened the season with a scoreless tie at No. 5 Houghton (N.Y.).

     "It was awesome that she stepped up and put it away," USF veteran keeper Stacey Rider said in reference to Freygang's goal. "It really helped everybody relax just a little bit and restore some confidence." 

Leffers got checked off a ball setting up Freygang's direct kick toward the east goal.

  "I was nervous and made the sign of the cross before I took the kick," Freygang said. Her sign of faith settled her nerves and she calmly kicked it over the keeper and just under the crossbar.

   "We had been playing hard and we kept our heads up and finally put it together," Leffers said. "We'd had chances, we just didn't put them away. The first goal gave us confidence. The second goal we knew we could do it and the third one was just to show what we have."

   "We were confident, but we needed to get our energy higher and sustain it throughout," Leffers added comparing the last two games to Tuesday's effort. "It's an awesome feeling to prove we're capable and know we can have more success by playing the way we did today."

   Leffers' first goal of the season came just over four minutes later. Thieme made sure USF would prevail scoring 11 minutes later.

   "I got a great pass from Vanessa Herman and it was just a matter of finishing," Thieme said.

  "She's modest because she chipped in a really tough shot," USF Coach Ken Nuber said after getting his 159th career win as well as the 159th win in the history of the USF program.

  "Katie's goal really set the tone and we've felt that the way our defense has played, once we get that first goal we're gonna catch fire and we did," Thieme said.

  Give USF credit for a top-notch effort on defense as well as an offensive explosion.

   "We worked on shaping since we play Walsh (last Thursday) and did a much better job on defense today," Nuber said.

Box score

-- GO USF --