ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – A last-second goal at the end of the first half was the difference as the St. Olaf College women's soccer team dropped its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opener by a 1-0 margin to Bethel University on Tuesday afternoon at Ona Orth Athletic Complex.
Lauren Davis scored the lone goal of the game with one second remaining in the first half to give Bethel (3-2-0, 1-0-0 MIAC) its third-straight one-goal victory in the series with St. Olaf (2-2-1, 0-1-0 MIAC). The Oles had an 18-7 advantage in shots and a 10-3 edge in shots on goal in the game.
In the closing seconds of the first half, Davis eventually got on the end of a long ball played in behind the St. Olaf back line, poked the ball around goalkeeper
Brynne Davis, and snuck the ball into an open net just before the horn for the lone goal of the game. The goal came nine minutes after Davis had found the side netting from the left side of the box after getting around Davis.
The Oles generated the first scoring chance of the game in the fifth minute when senior
Lucia Ranallo got on the end of a corner kick only to see her shot cleared off the line.
Coming off a school-record-tying four-goal performance in Sunday's 4-0 win over Finlandia, junior
Tessa Anderson nearly opened the scoring in the 19th minute, but her shot from the top of the box came back off the cross bar. Fifteen minutes later, Anderson fired a shot just over the bar from the top of the box after cutting the ball onto her right foot.
St. Olaf took 11 of the game's 13 shots in the second half but Izzy Smith stopped all seven of the Oles' efforts on target to preserve the shutout. The Oles' best chance of the half came with four minutes to go when Anderson's cross from the right came to senior
Hayley Hoffmann in the box, but Hoffmann couldn't quite steer her effort on goal.
Smith picked up the win with a nine-save performance for Bethel, while Davis only had two saves to make in net for St. Olaf.
The Oles host Hamline on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 3:30 p.m. at Rolf Mellby Field to begin a run of three-straight home games.
