Saint Mary’s soccer maintained their winning streak, moving to 5-0 on the season after a win over Concordia, who fell to 0-5-1 on their season with the loss.
The Belles were quick to take control of the game, only 10 minutes in, as freshman forward Mia Johnson received a lobbed pass from sophomore defender Isabella Kreydich and put in the first goal of the afternoon. Only 36 seconds later, sophomore defender Danielle Escobedo sent the ball downfield to Johnson, who evaded a Cougar defender and slotted home her second goal of the afternoon, extending the Belles’ lead to 2-0 and securing a first-half brace. The remainder of the first 45 featured both the Belles and Concordia searching unsuccessfully for a goal.
The second half started much slower compared to the fireworks of the first. Johnson missed a shot left of the goal before freshman forward Bella Musachio tested Concordia’s goalkeeper Katelyn Wagner, who was up to the challenge. About 10 minutes after the speculative efforts, Johnson made up for the missed shot from earlier and found the back of the net yet again, bringing the score to 3-0 in the Belles' favor. The goal marked her first collegiate hat trick and gave Saint Mary’s lots of breathing room for the final half hour. In the 73rd minute, the Belles would be left to finish with 10 players after junior forward Eleah Hedstrom received a red card for her foul on Concordia's Natalie Flores. Despite the loss, the remainder of the half remained quiet for the Cougar attack.
This 3-0 win gave Saint Mary’s their fifth of the season, also marking their third shutout, the other two coming in victories against Franklin and Bluffton. The Belles outshot the Cougars in both periods, 10-2 in the first and 7-2 in the second. Johnson was the standout performer, scoring all three Belles’ goals and finishing the day with a total of five shots. Kreydich logged four of her own and dished out an assist for one of the Johnson goals. Musachio would add on a pair of assists herself, supplying Johnson for her other two tallies in the game. Sophomore goalkeeper Keona Caraballo was not kept very busy, but saved the three shots she faced in the contest.
Saint Mary's now travels to face off against Anderson on Wednesday, Sept. 17 starting at 5 p.m. before coming back home to host Wheaton on Sept. 19 starting at 6 p.m.
