Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Northern Colorado
Baddley Leads Wildcat Breakout Win
10/16/2009 2:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
OGDEN, Utah -- Forward Jessie Baddley recorded a goal in the 30th minute and assisted on the game-winner in the 56th minute to lead the Weber State women's soccer team to a 2-1 come-from-behind win at Wildcat Soccer Field on Thursday afternoon.
The Wildcats (5-8-0 overall) scored two goals for just the second time this season and ended an eight-match losing streak. The victory also gave Weber State its first points of Big Sky play as the team moved to 1-2 on the conference season.
"We've played better games this year and lost," said Crompton. "We've played games recently where we were far better and haven't come away with the result. It's a funny sport that way. I give the girls credit, though. It would have been real easy for them to pack it in down 1-0 after starting (Big Sky play) 0-2, but they're a pretty resilient group, like most young people.
"I was real happy, to be honest, to see them battle back from a one-goal deficit and show that they had a little fight to them."
Northern Colorado took the lead in the 25th minute as Kimmie Fielder blasted a running strike from just outside the box. The Bears had put some offensive pressure on the Wildcats and a failed clearance put the ball in front of Fielder with an open look at goal.
The Wildcats responded less than five minutes later. Defender Lindsay Griffin fed the ball from the middle of the field to Baddley, who weaved her way past four UNC defenders and fired the ball past goalkeeper Kirsten Salminen. The goal, which was her third tally of the year, gave WSU just its second goal of the season when playing from behind.
"That was a sweet goal," said Crompton. "It was nice to see her finally uncork one. She's put herself in that exact same spot five or six times this season and hasn't come away with anything. It was only a matter of time. She's a tremendous individual player, and a great team member as well. She's a great passer of the ball, but she showed there how deadly she can be creating her own look."
The Wildcats broke through again just shy of the 57th minute as Collette Simmons scored her second of the year. Baddley's shot from the top of the box left was stopped by Salminen. Simmons got to the rebound and got off a quick shot that got through Salminen's save attempt, finding the right side of the goal for her first career game-winner.
Northern Colorado put some late pressure on the Wildcats as they searched for the equalizer, but Rebecca Ritchie and the Wildcat defense stepped up to preserve the win. Ritchie recorded nine saves in the match, as she earned her 28th career win in goal for Weber State. Included in her nine saves were a pair of game-saving stops in the 67th minute. The senior goalkeeper dove to turn away a shot from six yards out by UNC's J.J. Wykstra. The ball rebounded to Fielder, who took another strike from point blank range. Ritchie sprawled while still on the ground from Wykstra's attempt and made another stop, this time snaring the rebound.
"The hardest part for the players, and the coaches, is if you're so focused on the outcome and you have so much anxiety about the outcome and feel that you have to win, you're never going to win," said Crompton. "Because your energy can't be on the end result. You have to focus on the things that are going to get you to the end. The process. We've talked a lot about that over the last few weeks, and we talked a lot about that today before the game. And I thought we did that."
The Wildcats will come back to take the field on Saturday morning as they host Northern Arizona at 11:00 a.m.
