Notables
-CSS is now 38-11-1 all-time against Northwestern
-This marks the second straight regular season loss at Northwestern for the Saints
-The Saints out-shot the Eagles 21-15 (16-9 SOG)
-All three goals were scored 10 minutes apart in the first half
-Dixon and Rancour each put four shots on goal
ST. PAUL, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The College of St. Scholastica women's soccer team made the two-hour trek down to St. Paul to take on the University of Northwestern, much like the football and men's soccer programs had done earlier that day. Under the lights, the Saints fell in a close-fought battle to the undefeated (in conference) Eagles by a score of 2-1.
The Action
The first 15 minutes of the match were rather quiet, as neither team could muster much action in front of the net.
The quietness didn't last long however, as Northwestern's Maddie Leever scored the first goal of the match in unassisted fashion at the 19-minute mark to put the Eagles up 1-0.
The second goal happened just moments later, as the Eagles sent another past goalkeeper
Roni Rudolph (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS (Minnesota-Duluth)). This time it was Anna Hitterdal scoring, who made a terrific move around a Saints defender to get towards the middle of the field before trickling one off the outstretched fingers of Rudolph.
The 2-0 score would hold up for about seven minutes, which is when St. Scholastica erased the goose egg under the visitor part of the scoreboard with a 28-minute goal from
Rachel Dixon (Superior, Wis./Superior HS). Assisting on Dixon's goal was
Kailee Katt (Esko, Minn./Esko HS (St. Catherine)), marking her seventh of the year.
The rest of the half after the Dixon goal to make it 2-1 was calm, with Northwestern keeper Samantha Dewey making two saves and Rudolph recording one of her own.
The Saints didn't waste any time putting pressure on Dewey and the Eagles at the start of the second half, with
Hannah Zeis (Ashland, Wis./Ashland HS) firing one towards the net just two minutes in. It would be saved, however, to keep the Eagles in front by one.
One minute after Zeis' shot came another rocket, this time from
Janelle Rouillard (Dayton, Minn./Rogers HS). The ball was sent from quite a way out, but made its way to the net before ricocheting off the post to deny Rouillard of the equalizer.
The Saints fired twice more on two good opportunities in the 55th minute, with
Becca Rancour (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson HS) and
Emily Thoreson (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) both being denied by Dewey once again. The rest of the match entailed much of the same, as the Saints continued their barrage of shots, only to be knocked away by Dewey until the final whistle sounded.
Despite recording more shots on goal than Northwestern (16-9) and accumulating more corner kick opportunities (8-1), the Saints couldn't find the back of the net more than once and fell to the Eagles by a final score of 2-1.
The Saints now fall to 3-1-1 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play, while the Eagles advance to 4-0-1.
Up Next
The Saints will now head home after splitting the road trip (1-1) to take on the University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday at Saints Field.
