NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's soccer team built a 3-0 lead before holding on for a 3-2 victory over non-conference foe St. Norbert College in its season opener on Friday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

After a scoreless opening half hour, St. Olaf (1-0-0) took a 3-0 lead on goals by senior Mackenzie Schoustra, first year Rachel Tanner and sophomore Hayley Hoffmann in the space of 25 minutes on either side of halftime. St. Norbert (0-1-0), however, trimmed the deficit to a single goal with a little under 15 minutes to go, but the Oles held on the rest of the way to earn the win in their first game under head coach Whitney Frary.

Schoustra broke the deadlock in the 34th minute by tucking the ball inside the lower-left corner of the net from the right side of the box after being played in by Hoffmann. Just under seven minutes later, Tanner grabbed her first collegiate goal by lofting the ball over the St. Norbert goalkeeper from the right side of the box after collecting a clearing attempt.

Hoffmann added a goal, the first of her career, to her earlier assist in the 58th minute off an assist from senior Katie Brumley. From the top of the box, Brumley found a wide open Hoffmann near the penalty spot and the sophomore fired the ball into the left side of the net to make it 3-0.

St. Norbert got one goal back on a penalty kick by Cara Donegan in the 59th minute and made it a one-goal game in the 77th minute on a sharp-angle shot from near the right end line by Emily Names.

The Oles held the Green Knights without a shot after Names' goal to hold on for the win. Junior Brynne Davis made three saves to collect the victory, while Ava Seifert had nine saves for St. Norbert in the loss.

St. Olaf held a 22-12 advantage in shots in the game, including a 12-5 edge in shots on goal.

The Oles host Pacific Lutheran on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 1 p.m. to wrap up their opening weekend of the season.