Women's Soccer picks up first MIAC win

The St. Thomas women's soccer team picked up its first conference win on Saturday afternoon, defeating St. Catherine University 1-0 in double overtime in St. Paul. Junior Hayley Engel scored the game's only goal with just eight seconds remaining in the period to give her team the win.

With today's result, the Tommies improve to 2-4-0 overall and 1-1-0 in the MIAC, while the Wildcats fall to 1-4-1 overall and 0-2-0 in league play.

Although neither team scored in the opening half, St. Catherine created a number of chances to score. The Wildcats racked up a total of nine shots, of which six were on target. However, Tommie keeper Tarynn Theilig was up to the challenge each time, saving all six shots on goal. The sophomore finished the game with seven saves in the shutout.

After experiencing a shot deficit of 9-4 in the first half, the Tommie women flipped the script to have a 3-1 advantage in shots in the second. Still, St. Thomas could not put one past St. Kate's goalkeeper Danielle Mendez and the two teams went to extra time.

Each team was able to manage just one shot in the first overtime, which yielded no goals. The second overtime appeared nearly the same as neither team scored in the opening nine-plus minutes.

With just eight seconds left on the clock, the Tommies were awarded a penalty shot, which was taken by Hayley Engel. Engel executed, sticking it in the back of the net to score her first goal of the season and give St. Thomas the thrilling victory.

For the game, the Wildcats outshot St. Thomas (13-10) and also held the advantage in corner kicks (7-5), while the Tommies recorded four more saves (7-3).

St. Thomas will be back in action on Wednesday when it hosts UW-River Falls in a mid-season non-conference battle at South Field. Wednesday's home opener is set for a 4:00 p.m., kickoff.

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Team Stats

Hayley Engel

Sydney Presley

Brielle Bierman

Kelsie Sargent

University of St. Thomas Athletics