St. Joseph, Minn. – The Saint Benedict soccer team competed in its final conference home game against Saint Mary's today (Oct. 26), coming away with a 2-1 win.
After jumping out to a two-goal lead, the Blazers cruised to the win, gaining three valuable points in the conference standings, vaulting to the top spot in a tie with Macalester.
The Blazers (11-2-1, 7-2-0 MIAC) came out strong despite the cold and maintained possession throughout the first half, while scoring both of their goals in the first period. The first goal came from the boot of Taylor Hedin (Andover, Minn.) 22:16 into the first period with assists being credited to seniors
Colleen Bouchard (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and
Laura Kosch (Eden Prairie, Minn.). It was Hedin's fourth goal of the season.
The Blazers followed that up with another quick goal 1:33 later with Bouchard assisting Val Clintsman (Maplewood, Minn.) for the goal. The goal was Clintsman's second of the season, and the assist was Bouchard's 31 of her career, moving her just three away from tying the CSB career record. Now with 11 helpers on the season, she set a new career high for assists in a season.
With the second half came an offensive onslaught of shots for the Blazers as they piled on 19 shots in the period, including seven on goal. The Cardinal goalkeeper, Miranda Halling, did her best with a myriad of diving saves to keep the Blazers from scoring in the second half, despite the high shot rate.
Despite the disparity in shots, (19-to-2 in the second half), the Cardinals (0-16-0, 0-9-0 MIAC) were the ones to score. The shot came early in the second half around the 18-yard box by Bethany Schmidt who chipped it over junior goalkeeper
Megan Favorite (Maple Grove, Minn.).
The second half remained 2-1 despite there being a strong offensive presence by the Blazers. The game ended with the same score and with Bouchard adding two assists to her MIAC-leading total of 11.
The win today, combined with a Concordia loss to Carleton and a tie between St. Olaf and St. Thomas, puts the Blazers in first place in the MIAC standings. The Blazers play next at 3 p.m. on Oct. 27 in St. Joseph against non-conference University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire.