Women’s soccer on three-game win streak

There is no doubt that the Gonzaga women's soccer team is more than prepared, with both confidence and skill, to enter the second half of its season.

The Bulldogs continued its shutout streak with a 2-0 win over Montana Sunday afternoon. The win marked the third straight and sixth overall shutout for the team in 2011.

Against the Grizzlies (4-7-1) the Bulldogs started out a little slow, but turned things around and dominated the pitch in the second half. 

"We played well against Montana and we definitely performed better during the second half of the game," said third-year head coach Amy Edwards.

"Our energy went up in the second period, and the insurance goal we got near the middle of the first period gave us confidence," Edwards said.

Edwards also said that they were particularly proud of keeping Montana in check defensively. The Grizzlies had no shots or corner kicks in the second half.

The win set the Bulldog record at 7-4-0 for non-conference play. The seven victories that the Bulldogs have going into West Coast Conference play is the most the Zags have recorded since 2007.

"The team standings after the first half of the season and non-conference play is very positive. Of course there are a few games that we would like to get back, but we are very happy with our 7-4-0 record going into conference play," said senior Sarah Rhodes.

Rhodes also set a personal mark over the weekend, becoming the program's all-time assists leader.

Starting this weekend the team will enter a series of conference games, beginning with a match against Saint Mary's. The team is planning on embarking on the second half of its season with a one game at a time approach.

"To be honest, we look at it game by game. I'm not going to predict how we will finish. The next opponent is our main focus," Edwards said.

"We have a lot of confidence going into the WCC season. After this weekend I think we have a good opportunity to knock off Saint Mary's," she added.

Last year against Saint Mary's the Bulldogs led 2-0 at halftime, but the Gaels clawed back into the match and ended up defeating the Zags 4-3 in double overtime.

"The upcoming game against Saint Mary's is definitely going to be a battle," Rhodes said. "We definitely have that in the back of our minds," she added, referring to last season's defeat.

"I think one of the main goals we have for this game is to score early. Many of our games we have scored in the first 15 minutes or so, which really takes the wind out of other teams' sails. So we are looking to continue doing that and really take it to them," Rhodes said.

The team has experienced a handful of severe injuries. Sophomore Cassie Geerdts and freshman Mikayla Anderson underwent successful ACL repair surgeries and will continue recovery for the remainder of the season.

Edwards explained that since Anderson and Geerdts are sidelined, other players will have to step up and play more minutes. She also added that there will be formation changes and certain players may try out some new positions.

Taking injuries in stride and learning from each game, the Bulldogs have an overall positive outlook for the rest of the season.

"At the beginning of the season we were predicted finishing towards the bottom of the conference, but our goal is to finish in the top half. It's definitely not going to be easy, but we proved last year we could do it," Rhodes said.

The Bulldogs will put their confidence and game plan to the test this Friday in Moraga, Calif., on the Gaels' home turf.