Viterbo Defeats St. Ambrose for First Time Since 2008
La Crosse, Wis. – After playing 120 minutes of scoreless soccer on Wednesday, the Viterbo University women's soccer team came out on a mission to score. Mission accomplished as the V-Hawks scored twice to defeat St. Ambrose University 2-0.
After multiple unsuccessful scoring opportunities in the first half, the V-Hawks finally broke through in the 41st minute. Senior Isabelle Ferm (SR/Farmington, Minn.) took a pass off a corner kick from Taylor Sommers (JR/Appleton, Wis.) and used her head to push the ball past St. Ambrose goalie Nicole Staines for her second goal of the season. The goal was Viterbo's first in over 280 minutes of play. The score remained 1-0 at the half as Viterbo outshot St. Ambrose 8-1.
Viterbo would keep the pressure on St. Ambrose in the second half as they continued to control possession. Sophomore Rachel Rudd (SO/Orono, Minn.) would give the V-Hawks an insurance goal in the 75th minute. This time off a corner kick from Macie Maulbetsch (SR/Waunakee, Wis.), Rudd found the back of the net for her first goal of the season. The assist was Maulbetsch's first of the season. The score would remain 2-0 the rest of the way as Viterbo held St. Ambrose to just one shot in the second half.
Viterbo finished the game with a 12-2 edge in shots including an 7-1 advantage in shots on goal. Erika Schultz (SR/DeForest, Wis.) led Viterbo with three shots while Macey Kalscheur (JR/Middleton, Wis.) finished with two shots on goal. Freshman Abby Breitbach (FR/Oregon, Wis.) stopped the only shot see saw to record her second shutout of the season.
The last time Viterbo defeated St. Ambrose was in 2008 when the V-Hawks came away with a 2-1 win over the Fighting Bees in overtime. The win improves the V-Hawks to 3-3-3 while the Fighting bees fall to 3-1-2 on the season. Viterbo will be back in action on Saturday, September 23rd when they face the Blue Devils of UW-Stout at 1:00 pm.