St. Joseph, Minn. -- The Saint Benedict Soccer team shutout out the Saint Mary's Cardinals 5-0 this afternoon (Oct. 20) in a game that had huge implications in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) standings. The crushing victory not only gave the Blazers momentum and confidence heading into Wednesday's game at Hamline, but also gave them a boost in the standings they desperately needed. The win, coupled with losses by St. Olaf and Hamline, moves the Blazers into fourth place, with a two point lead over fifth-place St. Olaf.

Just 47 seconds into the game first-year Peggy Renier gave her team a lead they would never relinquish, scoring her first career goal off a pass from junior forward Colleen Bouchard, her career-record ninth assist of the season. Renier becomes the ninth player to score a goal for the Blazers this year. The assist moves Bouchard to within two of being third all-time at Saint Benedict for assists in a single season.

With the sour taste of several games where they got an early lead only to let it go late still on their mind, the Blazers kept their foot on the throttle the rest of the way en route to a five point victory, their largest victory of the season.

Ten minutes into the first half junior forward Laura Kosch put another one on the board for the Blazers off a great ball by first-year defender Megan Lenz. The goal was Kosch's third on the season, the third-most scored by a Blazer this year. The assist was Lenz's first of her young career.

The Blazers came out even stronger after the halftime break, using their offense as their best defense to shutout the Cardinals.

Lenz got the scoring started in the second half after receiving the ball from junior forward Kristina Burk to give her team a 3-0 lead. The goal was Lenz's second of her career. The assist was Burk 's first of the season. She joins nine other Blazer players who have also recorded an assist thus far.

Not long after that Bouchard reminded us all why she was named the MIAC's co-MVP last year, scoring two unassisted goals less than three minutes apart from each other, an unheard-of feat in the world of soccer. The goals were Bouchard's fourth and fifth of the season, second on the team behind first-year sensation Aly Hoffman. The five-point day for Bouchard brings her point total for the year to 19, moving her into first on her team and sixth overall in the conference.

A lot of credit for the win should also go to the Blazer defense, which nearly gave Blazer sophomore keeper Megan Favorite a day off in net, forcing her to make only two saves before she was pulled late in the second half to give backup keeper Claire O'Brien some valuable playing experience.

Overall it was a great game for the Blazers all over the field, as they outshot the Cardinals 23-5.

With the victory, the Blazers are in position to be one of the four teams who will make the postseason and move into fourth place in the conference standings. Heading into the final two-game stretch they now become the hunted rather than the hunters as several teams on the outside-looking-in will now be thinking of schemes to uproot the fourth-place Blazers.