APPLETON, Wis. — Keli Muchowski converted a penalty kick with less than five minutes remaining to lift the Lawrence University women’s soccer team to a 3-2 nonconference victory over Nebraska Wesleyan University on Sunday at Whiting Field West.
Muchowski scored a pair of goals on penalty kicks for Lawrence (1-1-0), and Amber Johnson scored twice for Nebraska Wesleyan (2-1-1).
The game-winning goal came as a result of a great run by freshman Casey Merkle. Merkle was streaking toward the goal when she was taken down in the penalty box. Muchowski then beat goalkeeper Madi Francis with the penalty kick with just 4:39 remaining to give the Vikings a 3-2 lead.
Nebraska Wesleyan grabbed an early 1-0 lead when Johnson scored in the fourth minute. Lawrence bounced right back when Merkle scored off an assist from Anne Leung at the 6:21 mark to tie the game at 1-1.
Muchowski gave Lawrence a 2-1 lead at the 36:35 mark. Muchowski got off a shot that hit the post, and as she was leaping over Francis, she was upended by the Nebraska Wesleyan goalkeeper. Muchowski was awarded a penalty kick and converted for her first goal of the contest.
The Prairie Wolves came out strong in the second half and finally evened the score at 2-2 on Johnson’s goal at the 68:35 mark.
Dani Glass made seven saves in goal for Lawrence to get the win. Francis stopped four shots for Nebraska Wesleyan.