Box Score Twice before, in the regular season, St. Scholastica defeated Minnesota-Morris. But they say the third time is the charm, and it was for the Cougars on Saturday afternoon as the No. 3 seed rallied from a 1-0 deficit for a pair of second half goals and the UMAC postseason tournament title over host and the No. 1-seeded Saints at Duluth's Public Schools stadium.
Morris' 2-1 victory was all the more impressive when noted that the Cougars men's soccer program is only in their second year of existence.
The Saints (17-4-0) got on the board first, after a scoreless first half, when Robbie Miller stole a pass from a defender deep in the Morris end and put a shot into the far right corner past a diving Tyler Simpson only 108 seconds after the intermission.
Morris (15-4-2) broke back to tie the game five minutes later with a Brent Diggs free kick that squirted past Saints goalie
Adam Whitehead (Pickering, Ont./Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School), hit the post, caromed off the diving Whitehead's back, and rolled in for the tying score.
Juan Dominquez put his Cougars ahead in the 58th minute after taking a crossing pass from teammate Daniel Martinson and finding a corner that Whitehead couldn't reach.
St. Scholastica now faced a squad that built a wall in front of their keeper, effectively ending nearly every threat near the top of the box.
The Saints had their chances, mostly going over the top of the wall attempting to re-direct lofted balls with headers, but each time Simpson either made the big grab or the shot sailed just off the mark.
The Saints would up with 17 shots compared to only seven by Morris, but the Cougars got four of their seven on goal while the Saints were able to register only seven of their 17 on frame.
Simpson finished the game with six saves in the historic win for the Cougars while Whitehead, St. Scholastica's career shutouts leader with 30, made two stops.
Morris' Brent Diggs was tabbed the tournament MVP. Also earning All-Tournament team honors were:
- Mattson Towley (Minn.-Morris)
- Juan Dominguez (Minn.-Morris)
- Daniel Martinson (Minn.-Morris)
- Dana Veth (Minn.-Morris)
- Toby Peter (Spalt, Germany/J.S. Bach Gymnasium) (St. Scholastica)
- Ian Linder (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) (St. Scholastica)
- Robbie Miller (St. Scholastica)
- Jordan Heupal (Presentation College)
- Michael Bertsceh (Presentation College)
- Chris Applegate (Northwestern College)
**SAINTS**
