ST. JOSEPH, Minn. - In a game that did not go the Gusties way last year, the Gustavus women's soccer team used a goal in the 69th minute from
Lauren Coy to salvage a draw on the road and earn their first point of the MIAC season.
The Gusties (1-4-2, 0-1-1 MIAC) snapped the perfect record of the College of Saint Benedict (6-0-1, 1-0-1 MIAC) in the draw on Saturday. Senior netminder
Katelyn Olson made 11 saves and junior
Lauren Coy (Mahtomedi, Minn.) scored the goal for the Gusties. Last season's game was a 2-0 loss for Gustavus, which would prove fatal as they were kept out of the MIAC Playoffs by one point on decision day. The tie was the first time the Gusties have earned a point in St. Joseph since 2015 when Gustavus beat the Bennies, 1-0 thanks to a goal from Hannah Sturtz.
The first half was mostly controlled by the home team, who did not allow the Gusties to fire a single shot on goal. Saint Benedict was credited with 14 shots, six of which were on goal. Olson made five saves in the half and the other shot on goal slipped past Olson, after a long ball was played over the top and a Bennie was able to take a shot off the half volley. Saint Benedict had the sole two corner kicks of the half as well.
Junior
Lauren Coy (Mahtomedi, Minn.) had the only two shots of the first half for the Gusties, but those two shots would be indicative of how the second half would go for the junior, scoring a goal in the 69th minute to tie the game. Coy picked up a pass from senior
Halima Bigirindavyi (St. Louis Park, Minn.) and took a first time shot which went over the hands of the goalkeeper to tie the game. The goal was Coy's first of her career and was very timely to push the game back to deadlock. After the goal was scored, the Gusties were back on their heels, taking in nine shots without giving up the game winner, securing the tie.
The only shot on goal of the day for the Gusties was from Coy, which found the back of the net. Olson made 11 saves and the Bennies took 32 total shots across the 90 minutes. Gustavus couldn't find any corners either, as Saint Benedict took all six in the contest.
The Gusties were originally scheduled to take on Bethany Lutheran on Thursday, but now the Gusties will wait until Super Saturday in Saint Peter for their next matchup, kicking off at 1:00 p.m. against Bethel on September 26th.
