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Aug. 27, 2008
We tried to build upon the early lead and had some good chances throughout the first half to double our advantage, but despite our pressure Butler managed to find a way through and bring the score level in the 36th minute. Our defense cleared a ball off of a service into our penalty area, but the clearance was met by a Butler attacker who unleashed a powerful shot toward our goal. Freshman goalkeeper Chloe Kiefer made a fantastic effort for the shot, but unfortunately the ball ricocheted off of the crossbar and then back of her hand and into the goal. Despite the goal, Chloe had a very strong debut for us, and even on the goal it was clear the she is capable of making some special saves. As disappointed as we were to hand away the lead, we were very happy with the way we responded to their goal. We kept our composure and within 5 minutes managed to regain the lead. In her first game as a Cardinal, freshman defender Caitlin Beck scored what could be the goal of the season to this point. Similar to the goal at the other end, Beck picked up a clearance from the Butler defense and fired a rocket from 35 yards out straight into the top right corner. It was a heck of a way to celebrate her first regular season start. We went into the half with a 2-1 lead, and the halftime break gave us a chance to make some adjustments and take even greater control of the match. Caitlin Rehder was doing a tremendous job of running at defenders throughout the match, and her effort led to our 3rd goal less than three minutes into the second half. Rehder picked up the ball at midfield near the right sideline and ran past one Butler defender before slipping a pass just inside the 18 yard box to freshman Ashley Auld, who fired a first-time shot past the Butler goalkeeper to the near post. It was a fantastic run by Caitlin and great to see Ashley get off to a quick start to the season scoring goals, especially in front of her hometown Indianapolis fans. With the lead at 3-1 we were now in relative control of the match. We still continued to attack in hopes of getting the 4th goal, but we were more concerned with making sure that we did not give them any reason to think the could come back once again. And in the end despite a couple of more chances the game would end as a 3-1 win. It is early in the season and certainly there are things that could use a bit of tweaking, but all-in-all the Butler game was a good match for us as we look ahead to a challenging stretch of home games. We kick off the regular season at home this coming Sunday at 1 pm vs. Texas, who is currently ranked #8 in the country by the NSCAA. It will be a great early test for us and one that will prove to be very helpful in finding out where our strengths and weaknesses are at this point.
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