MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris women's soccer team fought hard on a breezy day at Cougar Field against the University of Wisconsin-Stout, but the Blue Devils created too many chances in the end and held on to defeat the Cougars, 4-2.

With the wind blowing hard from the south, Minnesota Morris was pinned back quite a bit in the first half as UW-Stout attacked the north goal. The Blue Devils took the lead in the 18th minute as Carly Kauffman dribbled past Bernadette Cienik after a nice through ball from Caylee Boone and put it home for a 1-0 lead. 

That lasted only until the 23rd minute as the Cougars were able to counterattack and a ball over the top from Hannah Pedderson was knocked home by Kim Peters to even the score at 1-1. Cienik made a series of nice saves over the remainder of the half to keep the score level at the break.

Going into the wind in the second half served as an advantage for UW-Stout as the Blue Devils were forced to keep the ball on the ground, creating gaps in the Minnesota Morris defense. Marissa Steele assisted on consecutive goals in the 51st and 57th minutes to give UW-Stout a 3-1 lead. Liv Winkler and Lexi Boyd were the goalscorers for UW-Stout. Lauren Boyd then added an unassisted goal in the 67th minute to make it 4-1. 

The Cougars kept looking for chances to break out and work the ball downfield. That work helped create a corner kick and the delivery from Harper Toward was powered home off the header by Pedderson to make it 4-2 in the 79th minute, closing the scoring on the day.

Besides the two goals scored by UMN Morris, Emma Giere also had a shot in the match for the Cougars. Cienik ended with 13 saves on the afternoon.

After having what would have been the UMAC opener on Saturday postponed, Minnesota Morris will now open UMAC play at home with matches at Cougar Field on Sept. 24 and 25. First up is a 4:30 p.m. clash with North Central University on Friday afternoon.