Josie Maddox had an assist in the Tritons’ 2-1 victory over Wisconsin-Parkside on Wednesday before notching the game-winning goal in a 4-1 win on Saturday at Southwest Baptist. (Photo by Patrick Clark/Athlete’s Eye Photography)
Women’s Soccer
The No. 25 University of Missouri–St. Louis women’s soccer team picked up its first two victories of the season, holding off Wisconsin-Parkside 2-1 on a sweltering Wednesday morning match at the Don Dallas Soccer Field and beating Southwest Baptist 4-1 on Saturday in Bolivar, Missouri. Junior midfielder Maddy Kuhn scored in both matches. Her goal in the 87th minute against Parkside proved to be the game-winner. It came about 3 1/2 minutes after Ashtyn Fry‘s goal and gave the Tritons a 2-0 lead before the Rangers scored their lone goal in the 88th minute. Kuhn had the first goal against the Bearcats in the sixth minute of the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener, and UMSL also got tallies from Josie Maddox and Avery Hesseldenz in the first half while building a 3-1 lead. Aubrey Rego assisted on Hesseldenz’s goal and added one of her own in the 66th minute to cap the scoring. Alyssa Wolf went 2-0 in goal with four saves between the two matches. UMSL (2-1-1, 1-0-0 GLVC) will play host to Upper Iowa on Wednesday and Drury on Saturday.
Men’s Soccer
The Tritons suffered their first loss of the season on Wednesday evening when they fell 2-0 against Roosevelt at the Don Dallas Soccer Field. Alexander Panduro and Fynn Mewes each scored for the Lakers, who won despite getting outshot 15-10. UMSL played Southwest Baptist to a 2-2 draw in its GLVC opener on Saturday in Bolivar, Missouri. Mario Garcia had a penalty kick goal in the 17th minute to give the Tritons the early lead, but the Bearcats pulled even on Joe Wright’s goal in the 41st minute. Benjamin Ocampo gave UMSL the lead again in the 56th minute only to see Southwest Baptist answer again with Christian Cruz’s goal in the 69th minute. The Tritons (1-1-1, 0-0-1 GLVC) will be back home this week, taking on Upper Iowa on Wednesday and Drury on Saturday.
Volleyball
No. 17 UMSL went winless in the Tampa Volleyball Classic, losing matches against Oklahoma Baptist and Francis Marion on Friday and against Florida Southern and No. 4 Tampa on Saturday. The Tritons did battle Oklahoma Baptist to a fifth set but fell 16-25, 25-19, 27-25, 24-26, 11-15 in their opener. Francis Marion swept UMSL in Friday’s second match, while the Tritons lost in four sets against Florida Southern and Tampa. Alayna Santel paced UMSL with 53 kills in the four matches. Maggie Johnson had 41 kills. The Tritons hit no better than .235 in any of the losses, and Tampa held them to a season-worst .073 hitting percentage. UMSL (2-5) will look to rebound when it plays in the Ichabod Classic beginning Friday in Topeka, Kansas. The Tritons open against tournament host Washburn, ranked sixth in the country, and will also play Southwestern Oklahoma State and Arkansas-Monticello in the two-day tournament.
Men’s and Women’s Cross Country
The Tritons cross country teams opened their season Friday evening at the University of Illinois Springfield Prairie Star Invitational at the UIS Cross Country Course in Springfield, Illinois. The women placed sixth with 141 points while the men finished seventh with 176 points. Senior Julio Cruz Jr. was UMSL’s top individual finisher, placing 10th with a time of 16 minutes, 13.98 seconds on the 5-kilometer course. Freshman Kebeb Zimmerman was the next highest UMSL finisher with a time of 17:18.98, good for 31st place. Sophomore Hannah Richardson paced the women’s team with a time of 23:34.41 to finish 33rd, one spot ahead of freshman teammate Elektra Alcantar, who posted a time of 23:36.53. Missouri Baptist freshman Wade Patten won the men’s race in 15:53.00 while UIS junior Josslyn Gaona took first in the women’s race in 19:21.99. UMSL’s teams will next compete Sept. 25 in the Gans Creek Classic at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri.
Women’s Tennis
UMSL kicked off the fall portion of its schedule at the Cougar Invitational, hosted by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Friday and Saturday at the SIUE Tennis Courts and Meyer YMCA in Edwardsville, Illinois. Morgan Lint led the Tritons by going 2-1 in singles play with victories over Southern Indiana’s Antonia Ferrarini and McKendree’s Natalie Syrova. Aleksandra Lopez, Millie Wileman and Alexandra Cedeño also posted singles victories while Cedeño and Giuliana Cunza knocked off Southern Indiana’s Enna Krnjic and Rylie Wilkison in doubles play. UMSL will be back in action on Friday in the Maryville Invitational at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park.
