Week 3 of the season was a very busy one for the Mound Westonka girls soccer team.  The week started with two convincing wins against local teams and then a sobering loss on a visit to Minneapolis.

The first opponent on September 7 was Providence Academy at home on Haddorff Field. The goals dropped in at regular intervals courtesy of senior captain Megan Wanner and junior Alicia Hatlestad, who got two on the night. Junior Taylor Dallman also scored, and the team romped away with a 4-1 victory.  

On Thursday night, September 9, the White Hawks traveled to Rockford.  Last year, MWHS gained a great win against Rockford at home, which was the first of its kind in a decade.  With three wins in a row on the season, they were hoping to extend their streak to four and repeat the victory from last year.  

The game started well for the White Hawks. In the eighth minute, Hatlestad controlled a long throw in from junior Jordyn LaRue and then buried it in the net from the edge of the penalty box.  The White Hawks took that lead all the way until the half. However, just into the second half, Rockford tied it after MWHS failed to clear an earlier attempt, and then gave the ball away in a dangerous spot in the middle of the field.

The game stayed tied for a while, and it looked like the win would elude the visiting team.  At around the 60-minute mark, the game swung the White Hawks' way.  Senior captain Libby McCue surged up the middle and took a great shot that was impressively saved by the excellent Rockford goalkeeper.  Minutes later, sophomore Natalie Miner ripped a shot from 30 yards out that just went over the bar.  In the very next minute, sophomore Abby Hollenstein held the ball up nicely on the wing and connected with senior captain Quinn Jenson.  Her decisive pass across the box allowed Wanner to bury the game winning goal. Jenson also set up Hatlestad with 2 minutes to go for the put away goal.

On Saturday, September 11, the team traveled to St. Anthony in North East Minneapolis. After the White Hawks JV team cruised to an 8-0 victory, hopes were high that the varsity team could move to a perfect 5-0 start to the season.  This was, sadly, not to be.  Within minutes of the game starting, the girls were behind by two goals.  Nothing seemed to be working.  Passing was poor, movement off the ball was lacking and defensive play that had been so tight all season started to get sloppy.  At the other end of the field, shots were off target and too infrequent.  This loss provided a great lesson for the team that they cannot expect to win without playing well.  While this season has started extremely well, there is still a lot of work yet to be done. 

Final Scores: Mound Westonka 4 – 1 Providence.   Rockford 1 – 3 Mound Westonka.  St. Anthony Village 6 – 1 Mound Westonka