Senior Monica Dolinsky won a battle of Rock-Paper-Scissors to gain possession of the opening kickoff.

Later, a smiling sophomore Emily Cressy put sophomore Jeanette Francia in a headlock after Francia grabbed Cressy’s jersey to slow her down.

While there were quite a few less-than-serious moments last Sunday morning in the soccer team’s exhibition intrasquad scrimmage, the teams also discovered a few strengths and weaknesses to their play. The Blue team, composed of the players Coach Mark Francis would have started in a real match, took down the Crimson squad 2-0.

Junior Lauren Jackson said that the game, held one week before the season opener at Drake, was a good mix of attitudes.

“As a whole, we played really well together,” Jackson said of the Blue team. “We were trying to be focused, but at the same time we were trying to keep it fun.”

Jackson noted that a few players were injured and it put a bit of a damper on the match. Senior Shannon McCabe fell to the ground and remained there for several minutes as her teammates looked on in silence. But Francis noted after the match that McCabe was fine.

“I think it scared her more than anything,” Francis said.

Francis said the team showed a lot of technical skill and that often, a misplay was likely due to playing on the faster turf inside Anschutz Sports Pavilion. The game was scheduled to take place on the practice fields outside, but storms pushed the match inside.

However, he isn’t satisfied quite yet.

“If we would have had a game today, I would have said we weren’t ready,” Francis said.

Francis also noted the quality play of freshmen midfielders Shelby Williamson and Whitney Berry for the Blue team and Sarah Robbins for the Crimson side.

“I think everyone came out to see how the freshmen were going to be,” Jackson said. “I think they did really good.”

McCabe netted the first goal in the 20th minute, converting a break-away opportunity past senior goalie Julie Hanley. Berry made her mark on the match early in the second half when she buried a shot in the upper right corner of the goal.

Francis also noted that his team was likely changing from a 4-3-3 formation played most of last year to a 4-4-2 formation. He said they still have some things to “iron out” before Sunday’s match at Drake, mostly dealing with defensive responsibilities in the midfield.

But all in all, Francis liked what he saw.

“There was a lot of positive things to take out of it,” Francis said.