NORTHFIELD, Minn. – First-half goals from
Lily Shure and
Zoe Silver held up as the Carleton College women's soccer team defeated previously unbeaten crosstown rival St. Olaf College 2-1 in a rainy midweek matchup.
After the hard-fought victory, Knights head coach
Jessica Mueller said "I love this team. As much as we prepared tactically, the environment was pretty messy. Our players did a great job of both executing our game plan and problem solving the challenges that came with the conditions. This is such a gritty, hard working group. They never give up, even when things get hard."
Carleton (6-1-0, 4-0-0 MIAC) entered the game ranked No. 2 in Region IX by the United Soccer Coaches, and received votes in the USC's national ranking. St. Olaf (6-1-3, 3-1-0 MIAC) began the day as the No. 5 team in Region IX, and the only unbeaten team in the MIAC.
In the 15th minute,
Louisa Symkowick clipped a shot towards the top right corner. St. Olaf goalkeeper Charlotte Percy made the save, but couldn't punch the ball out of her area.
Eliza Barton collected the ball near the endline and floated a ball to the back post to Shure, who punched home into an empty net.
Five minutes later, with the rain picking up, Carleton doubled its lead.
Isabelle Connolly won a corner when her tight-quarters shot was blocked out of play. Connolly then took the set piece, and guided her delivery to the top of the six-yard box.
Lola Feuerer directed the ball goalward, and Silver tapped the ball past a trio of Oles for her third career goal.
In the 30th minute, the Oles earned a corner kick of their own. Wren VanDeWalker curled her set-piece effort to head of striker Rachel Anderson, who poked a header over the line to cut the Knights' lead in half. That goal snapped a Carleton shutout streak that lasted over five matches and a total of 490 minutes and 57 seconds.
Hadley Twichell provided a dangerous shot in the 39th minute that Percy saved, but the Knights went into the break leading 2-1.
Connolly drew a diving stop from Percy in the 50th minute with a 20-yard shot, and Ole forward Emily Johnson took a 59th minute shot that was saved by
Avery Trapp. Center-backs
Zaraya Jordan and
Maya Lacey combined to keep Johnson, the nation's leading scorer, from finding the back of the net, something she had done in eight straight games entering today. Carleton kept St. Olaf at arm's length for the remainder of the second half, and collected its sixth straight win.
The Knights outshot St. Olaf 19-7, with nine shots on goal to the Oles' three. The Knights remained unbeaten against St. Olaf since 2018, with a 6-0-3 record against the Oles in that time.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton hosts MIAC foe Bethel University on Saturday Oct. 3. Kickoff at Bell Field is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
