College of Saint Benedict Athletics

**With no games being played in Spring 2020 and therefore no performances to highlight for CSB's Athlete of the Week, CSB athletics will instead be featuring Performances You May Have Missed from all sports throughout the 2019-20 school year. These individual performances may have been overshadowed by another teammate's performance in that game, or maybe didn't earn Athlete of the Week honors at the time because of another deserving honoree. This weekly post will be used to highlight and honor athletes over the course of the spring.**

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Megan Thompson stole most of the headlines for the College of Saint Benedict soccer team in 2019, and deservedly so after setting the school record with 18 goals in a season.
 
It may have been Thompson who scored the majority of Saint Benedict’s 32 goals this past season, but of those 18 goals, nearly half came on assists from the same person.
 
In her first three seasons with the Bennie soccer program, senior Mara Flaherty scored a combined seven goals. She added a single goal to that total as a senior in 2019, but her contributions came from her unselfish play – and her ability to find Thompson as she was streaking towards the net.
 
After not recording a single assist in her first year, sophomore or junior seasons, Flaherty – a midfielder – racked up seven in 2019. All seven assists were on goals by Thompson, and helped the team finish 11-6-2 and advance to the second round of the MIAC Tournament for the first time since 2013.
 
Flaherty, who had two multi-goal games in her career heading into 2019, added a pair of multi-assist games to her resume in 2019. She assisted on both of Thompson’s goals in a win at Concordia on Sept. 17, and again in a huge double-overtime, 2-1 win against St. Olaf on Oct. 20. Thanks to Flaherty’s passes, Thompson scored game-winning goals against Loras, Concordia, St. Olaf and Bethel – another key victory, this time 1-0, on the road on Oct. 30.
 
Seven assists is the most in a season for a CSB soccer player since Jane Koch in 2017. No Bennie athlete has had more than seven assists since Shannon Curry, who recorded eight in 2000. Flaherty – who finished tied for eighth in the MIAC in total assists this season – wrapped up her CSB soccer career with eight goals, seven assists and 23 points.