The Piper women’s soccer team ventured to Roseville last Tuesday, Oct. 8, to face the University of Northwestern Eagles in their final nonconference game of the season. Recently, the Pipers have had some close road games that fell short of a victory, but they were able to get the win against the Eagles in a convincing 5-0 fashion.

Fans arriving late missed out on the opening goal as junior defender Alyssa Skinner scored. With just three minutes and 15 seconds into the game, Skinner scored off of a pass from sophomore midfielder Eden Behrens to give the Pipers an early first half lead of 1-0. After this opening goal the Pipers never let up. Hamline controlled the ball throughout the game and only allowed two shots from the Eagles. Luckily, both ongoal attempts were saved by first-year goalie Amy Ramras.

Unlike the Eagles, the Pipers put their opponents’ defense and goalie to work all afternoon with 30 shots, 18 of which made it on goal. Midway through the first half, junior midfielder Aileen Scheibner was awarded a free-kick after an Eagles’ foul. Scheibner lined up from about 25 yards out, and the Eagles set up to defend the kick. Before she could take her free-kick, Head Coach Ted Zingman ran down the side-lines to tell Scheibner where to send the kick. Scheibner then lined up and sent the ball sailing 25 yards off the right goal post and into the net to give Hamline a 2-0 lead with 26:12 left in the first half.

The Pipers’ control of the ball was due in large part to their successful passing, which was very effective because of the constant communication between players on the field.

After the game, first-year midfielder Mallory Wirth spoke about the importance of on-field talk amongst players.

“Communication is key to being successful,” Wirth said. “It makes everyone’s job on the field [much] easier.”

The Pipers did not show any complacency after taking a two-goal lead and continued to put pressure on the Eagles. With 14:36 left in the first half, Aileen Scheibner struck again after she picked up a pass 20 yards from the Eagle goal post right in the middle of the field. In a split second Scheibner controlled the ball, looked at the net, picked a corner and then sent a sniper shot into the upper right corner. Assisting on the play that gave the Pipers a 3-0 lead was Behrens, with her second assist of the night.

The Pipers closed out the half without allowing any Eagles a chance to encroach on their three goal lead come halftime.

In the second half, Hamline continued its offensive pressure and ball control, which prevented the Eagles from catching up to their lead, and allowed the Pipers to continue on their scoring streak. Sophomore midfielder Caroline Exarhos got a pass from the right side of the goal and was able to use her head to deflect the ball past the Eagle goalie giving Hamline a 4-0 lead. Assisting on the play was sophomore midfielder Aubrey Stenson.

The final scoring play came with 27 minutes and 49 seconds left in the game when Scheibner got a corner kick from the left side of the goal. Sending the kick to the far right post, Behrens was able to get another deflection into the net.

Behrens and Scheibner each got three points on the afternoon. Other notable contributions came from Skinner, Exarhos and Stenson, who all got points in the victory. The Piper defense also played very well by keeping the Eagles’ shot opportunities to a minimum, and those that got through were saved by Ramras.

Coach Zingman did not respond to an email request for a post- game interview, but Wirth shared some of her thoughts on how the team carried momentum into the game from a recent win against the St. Thomas Tommies on Oct. 5.

“Everyone just stayed really focused and even though it was a non-conference game we still wanted to pull out a win,” Wirth said.

As the team heads into the heart of their schedule, a tough six MIAC conference games lay ahead of them. In the road ahead, Wirth expects a strong finish on behalf of the team, and overall dedication.

“For the rest of the season we are looking to continue to work hard each day at practice in order to win the rest of our conference games,” Wirth said. “Our team expectation for the rest of the season is to just take one game at a time and focus on that.”

One thing the Pipers have to look forward to is that four out of their remaining six games are at home, where they continue to be undefeated this season. After playing Concordia on Oct. 12, their next games are on Oct. 15 against Augsburg and Oct. 19 against Carleton; both at home.

The Pipers will then go on the road for games against Bethel on Oct. 26, and St. Mary’s on Oct. 30, before closing out the season at home Nov. 2 against Gustavus.

Even though only six games remain, the Piper women’s soccer team has a lot left to play for.