NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s soccer team got back in the win column Wednesday evening, defeating St. Olaf 3-1. The win moves the Gusties to 6-2-1 overall and 3-1 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while the Oles drop to 5-5 overall and 3-1 in the league.
“We played a solid 90 minutes today,” Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie said. “We had many dangerous looks in the first half and it was great to see us put three in the back of the net. Their goalkeeper did a great job, preventing us from scoring a few more.”
Fifteen minutes into the contest, Hannah Sturtz (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) scored her third goal of the season on an assist from Lauren Johnson (Fy., Woodbury, Minn.). Then in the 22nd minute, Abby Mullenbach (So., Lakeville, Minn.) found the back of the net for the second time this year on an assist from Emily Skogseth (Jr., Burnsville, Minn.). The Oles ended the shutout in the 29th minute, but nearly six minutes later Judith Hepburn (So., North Pole, Alaska) scored her first goal of the season, assisted by Josie Mazzone (Sr., Rapid City, S.D.), for a 3-1 Gustavus lead, which stood at halftime.
Neither team was able to score in the final 45 minutes as the Gusties outshot the Oles 21-12, including a 12-6 advantage in the first half. Gustavus also had eight corner kick opportunities to St. Olaf’s two. Ashley Becker (Jr., Farmington, Minn.) made three saves in the complete game effort.
“In the second half we were able to control the tempo of the game,” Burnett-Kurie said. “Our backline did a great job of keeping our shape. St. Olaf can score at any point so it was nice to see us focus on all the little details.
“Lauren Johnson was exceptional in the midfield. We were a bit unlucky to not score again in the second half.”
Gustavus travels to Augsburg Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. game.