Viterbo Women’s Soccer hopeful to receive conference bid

The Viterbo Women’s Soccer team has had great success this season through young talent backed with senior leadership. Technical execution of team strategies coupled with record breaking performances have made this season electric. With a strong finish to the regular season, they hope to compete at the Conference Tournament coming up during the second week of November.  

Early in the season, during the week of September 5, the team recorded three wins of five or more goals. During this stretch, the girls defeated Martin Luther College by six, North Central University by eight and Rockford University by five. 

The team performed well all season, but Head Coach Scott Pirnstill believes the best match came on October 14 against Georgia Gwinnett, “They are a public school made up of international players who get a free ride. We put together a solid game plan, and the girls came in and played out of their mind.”  

The most recent event was against Finlandia University, where the V-Hawks competed in their Breast Cancer Awareness game. The final score was a whopping 7-0, with Bruechel adding another hat trick to her impressive season. The final event will be held against an NCAA opponent in UW-Whitewater, “A perennial powerhouse” according to Pirnstill.  

The team’s goal, as it is every season, is to make it to the end of the year conference tournament. Conference qualification is determined by several factors, including performances against top 25 opponents, strength of schedule, and head-to-head matchups. The women are currently in fourth for voting which would qualify them for the conference tournament.  

The Women’s Soccer Team has found success with many athletes coming in and stepping up. Coach Pirnstill credits senior captains Emma Weber and Mikayla Lazinsky, both defensive players, saying “There is not a lot of flash in a defensive role, good solid leadership on the defensive side.” He also mentioned Carsen Desens with “providing experience for the left side”.  

The team is young, with a lot of freshmen and sophomores, and has high hopes for the future. Grace Breuchel, Freshman Midfielder from McFarland, WI, has made quite an impact in this year’s success. She has scored 21 goals this season, with a season defining six-goal game against Martin Luther College. This effort broke the school record for most goals in a game in Viterbo Women’s Soccer history. She has also been named the Conference Player of the Week three times this season. She scored twice in a 2-0 shutout of UW Stout and was named Player of the Week for the second week in a row.  

The women have put great work into becoming the cohesive unit which they are. Pirnstill credits the group as a whole, “The whole team is doing their role right now and playing their role really well.” With a conference bid on the line, be sure to keep up with Viterbo Women’s Soccer in the coming weeks.