University of St. Thomas Athletics
17-2
St. Catherine
11-4-2
Wonder-ful shot ignites Women's Soccer
10/31/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
PHOTOS: Top, Ellie Eskierka celebrates her second goal of the season; below, Alex Balfour watches her long blast on its journey to the net for a score.
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On this Halloween, Tommie freshman defender Alex Balfour momentarily donned the costume of Wonder Woman and jump-started the St. Thomas Women's Soccer offense.
Balfour picked a good time to take -- and make -- her first collegiate shot: the second half of a postseason game that was tied 0-0.
During a Tommie counter attack in the game's 61st minute, Balfour drilled a shot from beyond the box and it spun past a leaping goalkeeper into the top right corner of the nets for the game's first goal.
St. Thomas added Ellie Eskierka's insurance goal in the 84th minute to take a 2-0 victory over fourth-seed St. Catherine in the semifinal round of the conference playoffs at South Field.
The Tommies (17-2) tied a school record for season wins and moved to 9-0 at home this season. They're back in the MIAC playoff championship game for the third time in four years and will face third-seed Augsburg (14-6) Saturday at 1 p.m.
An automatic berth into the NCAA playoffs goes to Saturday's winner, but the Toms have probably locked up a spot in the national field regardless.
The Toms had an 11-4 advantage in shots on goal and a 4-0 edge in corners. Sarah Pasternak had four saves as the team took its 12th shutout victory of the season.
Mallory DeBoom assisted on Eskierka's goal and moved into a tie for second on the UST career scoring charts at 109 points.
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Team Stats
Alex Balfour (1)
Shot from outside box off goalie's hand
60:17
Ellie Eskierka (2)
Assisted By: Mallory DeBoom
Pass into edge of box and shot past goal
83:48
