Women’s soccer head coach Ted Zingman said his team is “off to a great start,” as they head into their game this afternoon, Oct. 1, against St. Olaf with a 5-2-2 record.

“We’ve been playing great defensive soccer so I’m feeling really good about where we are right now,” Zingman said.

The Pipers started the season with five shutouts. Sophomore Amy Ramras started the first three games before senior team captain Erin Urbanowicz returned from a concussion. Urbanowicz’s first two games back were shutouts and she was rewarded with a MIAC Women’s Athlete of the Week honor.

“I think we’ve got a very experienced and sound defensive unit. It’s not just the defense and goalkeeper,” Zingman said. “We stress playing a very strong team defense, from our forwards all the way back.”

In addition to six total shutouts, the Pipers have only allowed five goals this season. However, one thing that hasn’t been consistent for the Pipers is their offense. In both losses, the offensive side didn’t match the strength of their defense as they were shutout against St. Benedict and held to one goal against St. Catherine.

Zingman said their offense is still “a work in progress.”

“We’ve had a lot of offensive players injured early in the season,” Zingman said. “We’re just starting to get all our players back, so I think the offense will be coming along nicely.”

One thing Zingman said he wants to see from his team is consistency throughout regulation.

“I’m looking for our team to come in and show consistency. That we could come in and play a full 90 [minutes] of our best soccer,” Zingman said.

In the past two conference games, against St. Catherine (Sept. 27) and Macalester (Sept. 20), they have let early leads to slip away from them.

Against St. Catherine, fifth-year senior Corinne Henning scored in the first half to put them up 1-0. Suddenly, St. Catherine tied the game in the second half to force overtime and eventually broke through for another score to win 2-1.

During their game against the Scots, senior forward Aileen Scheibner and junior midfielder Aubrey Stenson both scored a goal in the first half to put them up 2-0. However, Macalester managed to score two goals, capitalizing off of Urbanowicz absence when she was sidelined due to a red card. The game went on to double overtime and resulted into a 2-2 tie.

Although Zingman felt they could have won, he was content with picking up a point. It was the first point the team has registered against the Scots in school history.

“It was a little bittersweet because we really felt that we were capable of getting all three points but hey, we’ll take the point,” Zingman said.

The Pipers sit at a 0-2-1 conference record and will face St. Olaf this afternoon at Pat Paterson Fields before going on a five game road trip.

As it’s nearing the midpoint of the season the Pipers have demonstrated their ability to be competitive. However, Zingman said their goal still remains the same as previous years.

“Quite honestly, our goal is the same this year as it is every year – to be our best day in day out: [in] practice, games, in the classroom, everywhere,” Zingman said. “Our goal is for our players as individuals and as a collective group to be their best; and we really feel that from a results standpoint that at the end of the season we’ll be very happy with the results if we play our best on an everyday basis.”