Women’s Soccer Travels To Saint Ben’s On Wednesday

ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s soccer team puts its conference lead on the line at 4 p.m. Wednesday as it travels to the College of Saint Benedict for a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match. The Gusties enter the match with a 7-4-1 overall record and are in first place in the MIAC with a mark of 5-1-0, while the Blazers are 6-4-2 overall and 4-2-0 in the MIAC, which is tied for third place.

Live online coverage of tomorrow’s match begins at 4 p.m.

LIVE STATS/VIDEO

GUSTAVUS LINKS: ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS

SAINT BENEDICT LINKS: ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS

Gustavus is coming off a huge conference win last Saturday as it defeated Augsburg 2-1 in a battle of the top two teams in the MIAC. After a scoreless first half that saw five shots by Gustavus and four by Augsburg, the Gusties scored the first goal of the game in the 52nd minute. The Gustie women built up the play on the right-hand side as Sophie Leininger (So., Plymouth, Minn.) played it to Emily Skogseth (Fy., Burnsville, Minn.), who was central, as she faked to her left, cut back to her right and ripped a shot from 25 yards that skipped right underneath the crossbar for the goal. Leininger now has eight assists this season, which are two behind the Gustavus season record.

The Gusties then took a 2-0 advantage in the 69th minute on a similar goal to the first. Josie Mazzone (So., Rapid City, S.D.) got into the attack as the outside back and played it into Chaselyn Miller (Fy., Brooklyn Park, Minn.) who faked to her left, went back to her right and scored far post for her second goal of the season.

The Auggies scored their first goal of the game with :42 seconds remaining in the match, but that would be it as the Gusties came away with the win. Gustie keeper Ashley Becker (Fy., Farmington, Minn.) tallied two saves in the win. Becker now has a 1.31 goals against average and a .797 save percentage.

After 12 matches this season, Gustie forward Maddison Ackiss (Jr., Fairbanks, Alaska) leads the MIAC with eight goals.

Saint Benedict most recently defeated Bethel 3-1 last Saturday in Arden Hills, Minn. Junior forward Taylor Hedin (Jr., Andover, Minn.) and senior forward Gracie Vaughan (Sr., Shakopee, Minn.) each had a goal and an assist to keep the Blazers within striking distance of the conference leaders. Hedin got the scoring started for the Blazers on her first shot of the game, scoring off a pass from Vaughan in the game’s 16th minute. That goal was Hedin’s fifth of the year, tying her career high from 2014. The assist was Vaughan’s third of the year, which leads the Blazers.

In the 16th minute of the second half, Hedin sent a pass to senior forward Aly Hoffman (Sr., Greenfield, Minn.) which resulted in Hoffman’s team-leading sixth goal of the year. The goal gave the Blazers a 2-0 lead.

Just four days from being upset by St. Thomas, the Blazers buckled down to ensure this game would not have the same result. In the 81st minute, Vaughan took a pass from junior midfielder Olivia Musser (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) and scored her third goal of the season, sealing the 3-1 win for the Blazer squad.

The Blazers had a season-low seven shots, but five of them were on net. They held the Royals to just two shots, and both were on net. CSB goalie Heather Kaluzniak (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) made one save and now has a 0.96 goals against average and a .755 save percentage.