Pride return to winning form in 2-0 home victory over Briar Cliff

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Coming off of their first defeat of the 2024 season, the Clarke University women's soccer team didn't take long to get their offense going in a 2-0 win over Briar Cliff University on Saturday afternoon at Burrows Field.

Just 25 seconds into the game, the Pride got on the board after creating some pressure on the BCU defense when Bailey Wiemann, Morgan Catchur, and Laryssa Pritchard combined on a nice passing play to get Pritchard a one-on-one chance against Briar Cliff's keeper, Jaime Rowlands as Pritchard would finish off her team-leading third goal of the season.

CU went into Saturday's game switching up their formation from their early season 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 as the strategic change seemed to pay off for the Pride as they would produce significant advantage is most of the possession stats, most notably shots and shots on goal, outshooting the Chargers 14-3 and holding a 9-2 advantage in shots on goal.

Clarke would pull their lead out to 2-0 when Jaycee Page would score her second goal of the season on a long strike from about 35 yards out as the ball snuck in right under the cross bar in the 28th minute.

Not tested fairly frequenly, Pride goalkeeper Faith Krapfl was able to produce her third shutout of the season with a two-save performance as both saves came in close proximity in the first half as she held the CU 1-0 lead in the 13th and 15th minutes.

Not their final non-conference game of the season but their final on a weekend as the Pride will now head into Heart of America Athletic Conference play with their first Heart matchup coming in a week when they face Park University in Parkville, Mo. on Sept. 14 for a 12:00 p.m. CT scheduled start time against the Pirates.