New mentality helps Huskies catch fire
Owatonna sophomore forward/midfielder Sophia Schlauderaff battles for the ball against an Albert Lea defender. Schlauderaff and the Huskies are unbeaten in their last six games and currently tied with Mankato East and West for second place in the Big Nine Conference. Staff photo by Sevy Enter
Owatonna girls' soccer finished last week 2-0 and is currently on a six-game unbeaten streak after starting its season 2-6.
While one might assume the sudden shift in results is attributed to a change in tactics, head coach Nate Gendron said the answer is actually far simpler.
“Just our attitude and the general mentality of our players was negative at that point. We were kind of beating up on ourselves, so after that game we had a team meeting. We said, ‘Hey, we’re halfway through, which way do we want our season to go?’ We knew we had the ability to rewrite our script, and from that point on everybody had the same goal that we just wanted to have fun,” said Gendron.
The Huskies' streak of having fun began with a 0-0 draw against a tough Chaska side before Owatonna’s offense began to come to life.
The next two games saw the Huskies win 1-0 over Rochester Century and 4-1 against Rochester John Marshall.
With only their second winning streak of the season on their hands, the Huskies hosted a talented Farmington team and held the Tigers to a 1-1 draw after junior forward/midfielder Averi Vetsch scored the opening goal of the game.
Most recently, Owatonna finished last week 2-0 by beating Albert Lea and Northfield, earning two major Big Nine Conference wins in the process.
“Any time we can honor our seniors is fantastic. We’ve been on an upward trajectory, and that’s the way we want to head into section play. We actually didn’t have any seniors score even though we won 5-0, but all our seniors started and contributed to a big night for us,” said Gendron.
Following the win, Owatonna traveled to Northfield to face a struggling Raiders side and used its newfound momentum to win 1-0.
Sophomore forward/midfielder Attley Klemmensen scored the game-winner to push the Huskies past the Raiders and improve the team’s record to 6-6-2.
As it stands, Owatonna currently sits in a three-way tie for second place in the Big Nine Conference with both Mankato East and West, just 10 points behind a stellar 12-1-1 Winona squad.
Up next for Owatonna is its season finale game at home against Rochester Mayo.
The Huskies will kick off against the Spartans at the new Federated Field and Owatonna Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m.