Pride equalizers don't hold in 3-2 loss to Saint Xavier

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Closing out a four-game non-conference homestand to begin their 2025 season, the Clarke University women's soccer team dropped their second-straight game by a 3-2 final score to Saint Xavier University at Burrows Field on Saturday night.

The theme of Saturday night's game was the quick manner in which the Cougars would produce their three goals, the first of which came just 45 seconds into the game when Alex Jonaitis finished off a cross from Maddie Manzke to make it 1-0 less than a minute after the opening whistle.

In the 13th minute, CU's Brie Cote would win a one-on-one battle for a ball near the SXU box, also escaping the charging Cougar keeper, Natalie Dybas, who came aggressively off her line, leaving the goal wide open for Cote to find Elena Kapparos, who buried the open net shot on her first touch of the game, subbing in less than a minute prior to scoring.

One-upping their 45-second goal to start the game, it would only take Saint Xavier 26 seconds of game time to retake the lead 2-1 when it was once again a Manzke cross to Jonaitis to score again, where that score would hold all the way until the halftime break and beyond. 

The Pride would equalize again, this time in the 73rd minute when a trio of freshmen connected on a corner kick that resulted in Cali Koepke's first collegiate goal after Audrey McKenna served in the initial corner where Malia Silvers got the first touch of a header sent back towards the near post where Koepke cleaned it up to tie the game at 2-2.

It was a little long than mere seconds for the Cougars to strike again but they did just that in the 80th minute when Manzke was able to get in behind the Clarke back line on a breakaway with only CU keeper Faith Krapfl to beat where she would slide her shot under a sliding Krapfl for the game-winning goal.

Clarke women's soccer will hit the road for a pair of games next week, first heading to Fargo, N.D. to take on NCAA Division I opponent North Dakota State University on Thursday, Sept. 4 for a 6:00 p.m. CT scheduled kickoff against the Bison.