ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s soccer team Saturday shutout St. Olaf College 1-0 to improve to 2-3-1 overall and 2-0 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Gustie victory marks the first win over St. Olaf since 2008 and the first time since 2002 the Black and Gold started MIAC play 2-0.
“After the Macalester game we were super hyped up so we knew we needed to make it more of a trend in order for this to happen,” Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie said. “We focused on making a statement coming into this game to prove that we are playing well and that the Macalester game wasn’t just a fluke. Our girls came out prepared after having rough weather this week during our training, but they were able to overcome that and put together a solid 90 minutes.”
The Gusties put up the game’s only goal 7:53 into the match. Maddison Ackiss (Jr., Fairbanks, Alaska) scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season on an assist from Sophie Leininger (So., Plymouth, Minn.). The goal proved to be the game-winner – Ackiss’ second this week – as neither team could find the back of the net in the remaining 82 minutes.
St. Olaf tallied 12 shots, while the Gusties posted nine.
Keeper Ashley Becker (Fy., Farmington, Minn.) made three saves in her second-straight shutout win.
“Our back line did a really good job,” Burnett-Kurie said. “St. Olaf has a lot of quick and talented forwards and our back line did a good job of knowing when to step and drop, and shutting them down. And then Ashley comes up with big-time saves when you need it. That gets us going. From the front line all the way down to the back we made sure that we were high pressing all over the field.”
Gustavus returns to action at 4 p.m. on Sept. 23 as it hosts the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.