Women’s Soccer upsets No. 17 UW-La Crosse

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Falcons found themselves in a Tuesday-night tangle with the No. 17-ranked Eagles of UW-La Crosse. UWL is coming off a trip to the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Tournament Third Round. For the first time in program history, the Falcons walked away with a victory over UWL. CUW improved to 2-0 with a 2-1 victory.

"Tonight was a great collective team effort," said head coach Ryan Middendorf. "It's especially great when the match isn't exactly going our way and we find a way to finish and win. This is a really special group and I am really looking forward to see our potential."

The Falcons threatened early with a shot from junior Alexandra Tomich (Mission Viejo, Calif.) that rang off the crossbar in the 13^th minute.

The Eagles struck first in the 40^th minute off a corner.

The Blue and White had another quality chance in the 44^th minute, when sophomore Julia Smessaert (West Allis, Wis.) threw a shot on net that was stopped by the UWL keeper.

After the first half, UWL outshot the Falcons, 13-6.

Junior Allison McElwee (Laramie, Wyo.) broke past a pair of defenders and snuck the goal past the Eagles' goalie in the 72^nd minute.

The goal is the first CUW goal all-time against UW-La Crosse in four games.

McElwee did the exact same thing 10 minutes later to put the Falcons up a goal.

"It was really fun," said McElwee. "It is really fun scoring goals, especially against La Crosse."

 Junior Kaeley Sterkel (Dana Point, Calif.) made some key saves to keep the Falcons in the match. She finished the night with eight saves.

The Eagles outshot the Falcons on Tuesday night, 22-10.

Alexandra Tomich led the flock with four shots on Tuesday.

The CUW defense held strong against eight UWL corners.

This was the first victory over a ranked team since 2015, when CUW downed No. 11-ranked UW-Whitewater, 5-1. CUW tied No. 8 UW-Whitewater in 2017 and No. 14 Lake Forest in 2015.

The Falcons will have the week off and return to action on Sept. 11 at Lake Forest.