SWOSU Soccer took their first conference win Wednesday evening 2-1, scoring the first goal within minutes of starting. This game was also SWOSU’s pack-the-park event for the students. It’s always a day students, and teams, look forward to. Free food and scholarship opportunities for just showing up and supporting Dawg athletics. 

Alexis Boswell, SWOSU Sophomore, was asked, “What do you most look forward to during pack-the-park?” They stated, “It’s always cool to see how many people actually show up, it’s always more than I expect. It’s also fun to come out and get some free food and enjoy a game.” 

The athletes are also excited to go play in front of a bigger crowd and it makes them dig deeper for the win. This game was no exception, within the first 3 minutes of the game SWOSU was on the board. Braelee Epp’s was able to run the field after receiving a pass from Saoirse Hourigan  and hit the corner of the net to score the first goal of the game. She was strong and quick and SNU didn’t know what to do. Braelee didn’t stop here, she went on during this first quarter to have 2 more shots on goal, which just barely missed.

This wasn’t the only goal scored in the first half, with just minutes left in the first quarter the Dawgs went on to score the second goal of the game making it now 2-0. This goal clearly put a damper on SNU. It was one of the strongest kicks I’ve seen from the Bulldogs and it came from Ruth Vasquez. She got the ball and had one thing on her mind and it was to score. She got around 2 defenders and went for the shot. It went right past the goalie and hit the top left corner. The crowd was crazy, everyone knew SNU had no chance once that ball was kicked. The Bulldogs then went to work on defense to finish out the first half, only allowing 2 shots on goal by SNU. 

Now into the 2nd half of the game, the crowd was on edge. SNU was able to sneak a goal past SWOSU now making the game 2-1. The Bulldogs on the field though seemed as calm as they could be, they weren’t going to let another goal get by. The defense got stronger and it was back and forth the rest of the game. SWOSU didn’t score another goal, but neither did SNU, making the final score 2-1 Bulldogs win.

Sitting in the crowd, the energy was unmatched. SNU didn’t have a chance with that type of energy from a SWOSU crowd. This was a big win for them as it makes them 1-0 in conference play and brings huge momentum to the next matchup against OBU. This game takes place this Saturday at 1pm in Shawnee Oklahoma.