Central women’s soccer team falls in tight match with Saint Catherine

Central College

PELLA —Saint Catherine (Minn.) converted an early goal that would prove to be the difference in a 1-0 win over the Central College women’s soccer team Tuesday.

Saint Catherine’s Julia Zyla scored the game’s only goal shortly after a corner kick in the 14th minute.

The Dutch offense could not find the back of the net, but their defense kept them in the game. It was the seventh consecutive match Central has held its opponent to one or fewer goals. Coach Mike Kobylinski likes the talent he has in his defense.

“I feel like our backs and our goalies are some of the best in the conference,” said Kobylinski. “I think we are a team that is going to be very hard to break down. We are going to see a lot of score lines like this, it’s just going to depend if we are 1-0 up or 1-0 down.”

One of those defensive players is goalkeeper Sydney Lunardi (sophomore, Bettendorf, Davenport Assumption). Lunardi, the reigning Iowa Conference defensive player of the week, saved three shots and yielded just one goal. She is one of several young Central players who sees a lot of field time.

“At the end of the day, seven of our 11 starters are underclassmen,” said Kobylinski. “We can’t forget we are a very young team.”

The Dutch were without their leading scorer, forward Emily Saville (senior, Cedar Rapids, Linn-Mar), who was out with an injury. Kobylinski said despite being without a key player, Central still worked hard to try to find a way to win.

“I can’t fault the effort of the players,” said Kobylinski. “The mentality and the mindset of them is inspirational, it’s delightful. For me as a coach, it’s the best thing I can ask for. We just have to keep that team spirit up.”

Kobylinski said Saint Catherine outplayed Central early in the match, but the Dutch were successful with the changes they made.

“Saint Catherine struggled with the adjustments we made today,” he said. The Wildcats held an advantage in shots (9-6), and shots on goal (4-2). Attacking is one area the Dutch will look to improve moving forward.

“I think where we were a little disappointing today was in the last pass in, making runs in and around the box, and just being more dangerous 35 yards and in,” said Kobylinski.

Central was able to create some offensive opportunities thanks to the play of midfielder Annie Weaver (junior, Boone).

“Annie stepped in and allowed us to be attack-minded,” said Kobylinski.

Central’s next match is the Iowa Conference opener in Dubuque against Loras College at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Duhawks are 4-5 but expected to be league contenders.