The UW Oshkosh women’s soccer team lost both games this week, as the Titans were defeated by the University of Chicago Maroons and at home against the St. Norbert Green Knights.

Hosting the Green Knights, the Titans were able to muster a consistent offensive presence throughout the contest, but eventually recorded a 2-0 defeat. UWO led the game in shots taken and corner kicks, while also drawing more fouls.

As a team, Oshkosh took 20 shots on goal. Junior forward Alek Kleis led the team with four total shots and one on goal, and freshman forward Delaney Karl took three total shots and two on goal.

Defensively, the Titans had six saves in the contest and only one offsides called against them, with no cards drawn.

In goal, Oshkosh had sophomore keeper Madelyn Runyan in between the posts. In her fourth start of the season, Runyan earned a .750 save percentage by earning six saves during the full 90 minutes. The six saves were the most Runyan has earned in a game so far this year and this also was the first game she was in for the full contest.

The opening 45 minutes were scoreless, as both the Titans and Green Knights fought through a defensive battle going into halftime. UWO recorded the first shot on goal in the game, as freshman forward Hannah Zacher sent a ball towards the net that was blocked by Green Knights sophomore goalkeeper Ally Magiera.

In the first half alone, Oshkosh recorded 10 shots on goal, against six shots on goal for St. Norbert.

The early part of the second half was when the shutout was broken, as the Green Knights’ junior midfielder/forward Monica Stephans sent through a five-yard shot that was her fifth goal of the year. This goal happened in the 49th minute of the game, four minutes into the second half.

The second and final goal occurred only four minutes later, as junior midfielder/forward Dana Schwab earned her sixth goal of the season as she scored an unassisted goal, shooting it past Runyan.

The second half was just as offensively consistent for Oshkosh, but without the goals. UWO took 10 shots on goal again in this half, matching its output from the first half.

In each half, the Titans earned three corner kicks, but none of them were able to put the ball into the goal. The six corners for Oshkosh were double the amount St. Norbert College earned in the contest, including only one in the second half.

University of Chicago was able to hold UWO to just two shots as it defeated the Titans 3-0 on Sept. 23 at J. J. Keller Field. The Maroons dominated the offensive side of the ball, as it attempted 30 shots on goal during Saturday’s match.

Oshkosh held its ground, keeping the score to a tight 1-0 score for the majority of the game until the final 10 minutes in the match when the Maroons scored twice in the final minutes of the contest. Watkins put University of Chicago ahead with a 10-yard header off a cross from Peebles at the 16-minute of the opening period.

While the result wasn’t what they wanted, senior defender Fiona Neary was proud of the team as they battled against a prestigious program.

“I took away a lot of positives about the way our team played on Saturday,” Neary said. “Our coaches proposed we try a new style of play when we were going against [University of Chicago] and I believe my teammates and I did very well with the new formation we were taught and we executed it well.”

With the Titans only being down a goal at half, Neary said the team’s confidence did not decline and they felt that it would not take much to get back into the game.

“Going into halftime only down 1-0 was a giant confidence boost all on its own; we knew Chicago was a highly ranked team and only letting one goal in the first half showed us that we can compete with any team,” Neary said. “We knew that all we needed was one breakaway or one shot and the game could be tied up.”

But the Maroons prevailed as junior midfielder Jenna McKinney booted a five-yard shot into the net during the 84th minute. McKinney’s goal followed a pass from University of Chicago senior forward Madori Spiker.

U of Chicago then added to the damage with a goal from freshman midfielder Claudia Hodgetts with just two minutes remaining in the match. Hodgetts scored from the penalty area with the assist coming from McKinney.

University of Chicago freshman goalkeeper Miranda Malone blocked a pair of Oshkosh shots to earn the shutout victory for the Maroons. This was the Maroon’s fifth shutout of the season.

Chicago owned the offensive side of the ball by dominating the shot count. The Maroons took 30 shots while the Titans were able to attempt just two shots, and the Maroon also held UWO to a shutout in the corner kick category, 13-0.

University of Chicago senior midfielder Kelsey Moore led the offense for the Maroons, as she took the most shots with six. McKinney and Mia Calamari both got off five shots for Chicago and the Maroons received four shots from both Spiker and Watkins. McKinney owned a team-leading three shots on goal.

UW Oshkosh junior goalkeeper Jessica Galason saved 10 shots but allowed the University of Chicago to score three times. Galason was able to block six shots in the first half and four in the second half.

UWO head coach Erin Coppernoll said leading up to the match the team’s focus was on defensive schemes.

“Going into the game, we had been training specifically to defend in a block of eight and defend with a counter attack,” Coppernoll said. “We knew we were going to be defensive and we knew we were okay with not having the ball.”

Coppernoll said she was pleased to see the offensive chances the team created and would’ve liked to have seen some of their opportunities turned into goals.

“We created some opportunities and I had asked the team if they were comfortable with where we were at (0-1), and we thought we could create some opportunities in the second half, which we did,” Coppernoll said. “We just need to convert those chances when we get them.”

Galason said she sees a lot of value from this game and was proud to see that the team pushed itself to play its best game.

“I think we learned a lot from this game in that we can adjust our style of play to prevent a team from scoring as many goals as University of Chicago typically scores,” Galason said. “We learned that we can challenge a good team despite the heat; we didn’t give up and pushed ourselves.”

UW Oshkosh will now begin conference competition as the Titans take on UW-River Falls on Saturday, Sept. 27 at David Smith Stadium.