St. Joseph, Minn. – The Saint Benedict soccer team opened the season in fine fashion today (Sept. 1), taking a 2-0 win over visiting Luther on Blazer Field.

The two teams played scoreless through the first 45 minutes, and when the Blazers (1-0-0) finally did break the tie, they did so with a little help from the Norse (0-1-1). The game's first goal was set up by a Blazer corner kick from Jenny Brattesnsborg, but was officially scored as an own goal as it went in off a Luther defender.

With just five minutes gone in the second half, the Blazers finally had the lead they had been working for. They outshot the Norse 14-to-8 in the first half, and controlled the ball for the early part of the second before earning the corner that eventually led to the goal.

With less than 20 minutes remaining, the Blazers added some insurance and pushed their lead to 2-0. After bringing the ball up the left sideline and carrying it deep into the Norse zone, Colleen Bouchard sent a beautiful pass across to the front of the net where she found a streaking Piper Murray for the score.

It was the first career goal for the Blazer first-year, and the 12th career assist for Bouchard.

The Blazers kept the pressure on in closing out the shutout, finishing the match with 27 shots to the Norse nine, including just one in the second half. Blazer keeper Megan Favorite recorded three saves in the shutout, with the CSB defense in front of her keeping the Luther attack in check for much of the match. It already marks the 11th shutout of the young keeper's career, and eighth in her last 12 games.

The opener for both teams, Saint Benedict jumps-starts their season with an opening win for the third straight year, and remains unbeaten in openers under head coach Steve Kimble. They will now take their 1-0 record on the road for the next two weeks, first with UW-Eau Claire on Sept. 8, before returning home on Sept 16 to host Wartburg.