WINONA, Minn. – The Gustavus women's soccer team made the trek to Winona Wednesday afternoon still looking for their first conference victory of the season. Unfortunately for the Gusties, the Cardinals were also on the prowl for their first MIAC win, having lost to St. Catherine and tied Augsburg the week before. The Cardinals (4-2-2, 1-1-1 MIAC) used their home field to their advantage, claiming a 2-1 victory over Gustavus, which drops to 3-3-2 overall and 0-3-0 in conference play.
Saint Mary's opened the scoring just nine minutes into play, as the Cardinals' Lauryn Skoruppa picked up a loose ball off a throw-in, walked through the Gustie defense, and sent a shot past keeper
Katelyn Olson (So., Cloquet) into the right corner. Her goal held as the only tally to the half, as Olson came up with a pair of big saves throughout the first 45. The Cardinals launched one at the goal in the final minute of play, but it just barely tipped off the crossbar and down into safety, keeping the score at 1-0 at the break.
Ellen Becken (Sr., Prior Lake) evened the score for the team 12 minutes after the half, collecting a long ball bouncing in the SMU box, beating two defenders over her shoulder to send her team-leading fourth goal of the season into the middle of the goal. Becken's goal held for 17 minutes, until the home team emerged with the lead once again. Lauren Ashe took a free kick for the Cardinals, sending it toward the Gustie goal. A collision with Olson allowed Makayla Chow to find the loose ball and tap it into the net, scoring the final goal of the game. Olson came up with a big save for the Gusties with just seconds to play to keep the goal differential at one, their fourth game of the season decided by just one goal.
As a team, the Gusties compiled eight shots and five on goal compared to 16 and nine on goal for the Cardinals. SMU held the advantage in corner kicks as well, 6-3. Five different Gusties accounted for all five shots, as Becken,
Callie Patraw (Sr., Elk River),
Brianna Monahan (Sr., Wayzata),
Gabriela Rodriguez (Sr., Waseca), and
Lillian Selberg (Sr., Minneapolis) each tallied one in the game. Olson finished with seven saves on the night.
The Gusties are back in action for more conference play on Saturday, hosting Hamline (3-3-3 overall, 0-0-2 MIAC) for a 1 p.m. MIAC showdown at the Gustie Soccer Field.
