Collegeville, Minn. – The Saint Benedict soccer team beat Concordia for the second time in four days today (Nov. 5), scoring a 2-1 win in the semifinals of the MIAC Tournament.
 
Tied 1-1 with the clock ticking away faster and faster in the second half, the Blazers (15-2-1) got an open run from Grace Vaughan (Shakopee, Minn.) down in the Cobber (11-7-1) zone. After fighting off a defender, she buried the eventual game-winner, before being swarmed by her teammates.
 
It was her team-leading ninth goal of the season, but more importantly, it put away the Cobbers for the second straight game. She also put the Blazers up 2-0 late on Saturday to lock up the regular season conference title.
 
Also scoring her team-leading ninth goal of the season was Colleen Bouchard (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), putting the Blazers up 1-0 early in the second half on a penalty kick. Bouchard had a step on her defender before the two were tangled up and both went down, leading to the call.
 
The first half went scoreless with the Cobbers outshooting the Blazers 8-to-5. The play was heavy in the Blazers defensive zone in the first 45 minutes, with the Cobbers getting the bulk of the quality looks early.
 
In the second half Concordia came out firing again, and got off their biggest threat to that point, hitting the post, just past the outstretched hand of Blazer goalkeeper Heather Kaluzniak (Plymouth, Minn.) diving to her left. As the ball rebounded back into play the Cobbers were unable to regain control and the Blazer defense had ended another threat.
 
After Bouchard put the Blazers up in the 47^th minute, they held on to the lead until the Cobbers' Gina Weiss evened the score in the 70^th minute. She took control of high bouncing ball inside the box and headed it in for the equalizer.
 
Just over five minutes later though, Vaughan broke the tie on the way to the win.
 
The Blazers win their sixth straight and 15th game of the year, tying the team wins record and becoming just the fourth team in program history to hit the 15 mark. They now move on to the Championship game of the MIAC Tournament, played at 11 a.m., Saturday Nov. 9, back at Haws Field at SJU. They will face the winner of second seed Macalester and third seeded St. Olaf.