Kelmend Isaj (Monroe) started his college soccer career in the best way possible.
The forward came off the bench for the Edgewood College men's team in Friday night's season opener and scored on a 20-yard shot with his first touch. Isaj added another goal just before halftime and senior goalkeeper Kyle Koenig (Sheboygan South) made two saves as the Eagles blanked Lawrence 3-0 at Breese Stevens Field.
Sophomore Andrew Aurit (Monroe), Isaj's former prep teammate, and freshman midfielder Sam Quinones (Oconomowoc) scored on Edgewood's only shots on frame Sunday night in a 2-2 draw with Beloit College at Breese Stevens to close out the opening weekend of play. (Video highlights below)
Sophomore defender Stephen Gilbert (Madison Edgewood) set up the final two goals for the Eagles against Lawrence in his Edgewood debut, finding Isaj alone at the top of the box in the 45th minute and playing in a free kick that senior Brandon Jerstad (New Berlin Eisenhower) finished in the 85th for his second career goal and first since 2009.
On Sunday, Aurit volleyed a shot off a corner kick by freshman Alexander Ribeiro (Green Bay Notre Dame) past freshman keeper B.J. Kiser (Appleton Fox Valley Lutheran) in the 59th to tie the score at 1. Quinones then bent in a free kick from 25 yards out in the 71st to put the Eagles (1-0-1) in front, but senior midfielder Tom Slusher's 30-yard strike banked off the left post and past Edgewood keeper Robert Huss (Germantown) in the 78th as the Bucs pulled even.
Huss finished with five saves for the Eagles, who have three road matches this week: at Lake Forest (Ill.) on Wednesday, at Ripon on Saturday and at St. Norbert on Sunday. Edgewood will have played five games in 10 days after that stretch.
Women
Junior forward Elaine Gerry (Sauk Prairie) opened the scoring for the Eagles with a fourth-minute goal in a 3-0 victory over Lawrence in the season opener at Breese Stevens, then matched her career high with six goals in a 10-3 rout of host Beloit College on Sunday.
Edgewood (2-0-0) controlled play throughout both matches, outshooting the Vikings 22-8 and the Buccaneers 39-6.
Two freshmen, defender Jenna Mineau (Green Bay Notre Dame) and midfielder Emily Dorsett (Winneconne), each scored in their collegiate debuts against Lawrence, while junior defender Ashley Alonso (McFarland) recorded an assist in her first match for the Eagles after transferring from UW-Platteville.
Junior Kristi Frisch (McFarland) made four of her five saves in the second half for Edgewood, which got goals from Mineau in the 58th and Dorsett in the 85th to put away the Vikings (0-1-0), who qualified for the NCAA Division III tournament last fall.
Beloit (0-2-0) took the lead against Edgewood through senior forward Molly Dickson (Egg Harbor/Gibraltar) in the fourth minute, but Gerry equalized in the 11th and put the Eagles ahead in the 21st.
It remained 2-1 at halftime, but Edgewood scored six times in the opening 29 minutes of the second half. Junior Molly Haertle (Oconomowoc) scored the first off a Gerry assist, and Gerry rattled off four of her own in an 8-minute span to complete her second career six-goal match. Jennifer Brabant holds the program record for goals in a game with seven, against Judson on Sept. 11, 1993.
Senior midfielder Clare Schumacher (Green Bay Notre Dame) had three assists for the Eagles, who had 11 players record points on the day. Katherine Lyons (Spooner) netted the first two goals of her college career and fellow freshman Megan Falk (Oakfield) also recorded her first goal. Dickson had a hand in all three goals for the Buccaneers, scoring twice, while freshman keeper Alex Spirov made 16 saves.
Edgewood opens Northern Athletics Conference play Tuesday night at home against Wisconsin Lutheran, then travels with the men's team to Ripon on Saturday and St. Norbert on Sunday for non-conference matches.
Kelmend Isaj (Monroe) started his college soccer career in the best way possible.