NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Sophomore Emily Johnson scored the lone goal of the game in the 33rd minute to give the St. Olaf College women's soccer team a 1-0 victory over Wartburg College in the season opener for both teams on Friday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

After scoring seven of her team's 18 goals last season, Johnson picked up where she left off to start her sophomore season with the fourth game-winning goal of her career to send St. Olaf (1-0-0) to a season-opening 1-0 win against Wartburg (0-1-0) for the second season in a row. The last three meetings between the Oles and Knights have all ended with 1-0 scores and the four meetings in the series have all been decided by one goal.

Johnson's goal and the shutout earned first-year head coach Molly Fiedler her first victory as a collegiate head coach in her first game. Sophomore Clara Luger stopped all five shots she faced to log a shutout win in her first collegiate contest.

Johnson scored with just the second shot on goal of the game after collecting a throw-in from junior Megan Timmerman, cutting in field from the right, and unleashing a left-footed shot from outside the box that flew into the top-left corner. Johnson tallied seven of St. Olaf's 13 shots in the game, including a pair of efforts on goal.

The Oles nearly extended their lead on three occasions in the second half before settling for the 1-0 win. In the 51st minute, sophomore Wren VanDeWalker fired a left-footed shot from outside the box that was headed towards the top-left corner, but Wartburg goalkeeper Mackenzie Ceschan leapt to punch the ball out for a corner.

Fourteen minutes later, Johnson nearly doubled her tally but saw her shot from a sharp angle on the right hit squarely off the crossbar. With 17 minutes to go, Ceschan again produced a standout save to keep the Knights within one, as she leapt to parry a shot by junior Paige Hummel over the goal.

St. Olaf held a 13-10 advantage in shots and a slender 6-5 edge in shots on goal in the game. The Oles also enjoyed 62 percent of the possession and had five corner kicks to three for the Knights.

Fiedler's team hits the road for the first time this season with a trip to UW-Eau Claire on Sunday, Sept. 1 for a 12:30 p.m. kickoff.