John Kipper, Staff Writer

It’s been a rocky start for Auggie women’s soccer, and the early season issues have been compounded by several players being hampered by injuries. While none of the injuries are serious, their day-to-day ones like high ankle sprains can still be debilitating. When speaking with a member of the team, she said that as few as 11 players practice some days, and that it becomes difficult to balance being properly conditioned and avoiding wear and tear injuries.

The string of injuries has led to the team adding athletes who were not originally recruited to Augsburg for soccer. Currently, goaltender Sabrina Shaw, defender Mary McSharry (swim and dive) and midfielder Bridget Walter (hockey) are the add-ons. “The Echo” was unable to reach Shaw or Walter, but McSharry was able to provide a statement on how she found her way to the field. “I was asked by a couple of my friends on the team!” McSharry said, “I used to play in high school, so they were just wondering if I could come out and help the team scrimmage before games.”

Another member of the team was available for comment on the condition of anonymity, and, in a shocking revelation, revealed that she was “going to scout intramural games” to potentially bolster the roster.

Currently, the team has a decent overall record of 4-5 and an even conference record of 2-2. In the 6-0 pummeling of St. Mary’s, the offense was led by none other than Ashley St. Aubin. It was also the most convincing win this season and proved that the team’s offensive potency doesn’t begin and end with St. Aubin.

In the most recent match against Saint Benedict, the Auggies had a tough 2-1 loss despite peppering the Saint Benedict defense with 23 shots, 10 of which were on-goal. Give a lot of credit to Saint Ben’s goalkeeper Kendall Koenen, who made nine saves to preserve the win. This was also the first game ever that the Auggies lost when St. Aubin has scored, perhaps a further indication of the hot streak Koenen was riding. Besides the score, there were a lot of positives from the game, most notably that five Auggies registered shots and on the defensive end, giving up only 11 shots (four on-goal). Up next for the Auggies are Gustavus Adolphus and the chance for a crucial conference victory.

This article first appeared in the Friday, September 28 edition of The Echo.

Photo taken by Mary McSharry.