NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Junior
Mackenzie Schoustra found the back of the net twice for the fourth time this season, scoring both goals for the St. Olaf College women's soccer team in a 2-0 victory over crosstown-rival Carleton College on Tuesday evening in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) action at a rainy Rolf Mellby Field.
Schoustra scored in the ninth minute to give St. Olaf (8-2-2, 5-1-1 MIAC) an early lead and sealed the victory with just over 30 seconds remaining in the game to bring her goal tally for the season to 11 in 12 games. The win over Carleton (5-3-4, 2-2-3 MIAC) was the first for the Oles since a 2-0 win at Bell Field on Nov. 2, 2013, snapping the Knights' four-game (3-0-1) unbeaten run in the series.
Schoustra's 11 goals this season rank second in the MIAC, trailing only Augsburg's Ashley St. Aubin, who has 13. The junior's 11-goal total is the highest for an Ole in a single season since Lindsay Howard had 14 in 2009. St. Olaf's two goals marked the first time all season Carleton had conceded more than one goal in a game, as the Knights entered the day having allowed just five goals in 11 games.
In the ninth minute, Schoustra gave the Oles the lead off classmate
Claire Bash's first assist of the season. From just inside the center circle in the attacking half, Bash threaded a pass up the right channel that Schoustra ran onto and one-timed into the lower-left corner of the net from the top of the box to reach double-digit goals for the season.
Carleton came closer to an equalizer twice in the second half, with sophomore
Brynne Davis jumping at full stretch to punch an Annika Martensson shot from the top of the box out for a corner. First-year
Aubrey Sewell also cleared a goal-bound ball off the line in the second half after a clearing header by an Ole defender was headed towards an empty net.
With the Oles protecting a 1-0 lead and the clock winding down, Schoustra ended any thought of a Carleton tying goal with 31 seconds to go. After
Maggie Wilson beat a defender near the left sideline, she sent Schoustra in down the left before Schoustra cut in and found the side netting inside the right post to seal the victory.
St. Olaf doubled up Carleton in shots on goal in the game, 8-4, with Davis posting a four-save shutout, her fifth of the season. The Oles have allowed just eight goals in 12 games for a goals-against average of 0.64 and have shut out their last three MIAC opponents (Hamline, Macalester and Carleton).
Up next for St. Olaf is a long trip to Moorhead to face Concordia College (Minn.) on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m.
