EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – First year
Aida Engle scored the lone goal of the game in the 71st minute to give the regionally-ranked St. Olaf College women's soccer team a 1-0 non-conference victory over UW-Eau Claire on Tuesday evening at Simpson Field.
Engle's goal inside the final 20 minutes was enough to give St. Olaf (12-2-4) a win over UW-Eau Claire (8-5-4) for the third season in a row. The win extended the Oles' unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1) and improved their record to 6-2-2 on the road this season. St. Olaf was ranked No. 6 in Region IX by the United Soccer Coaches on Tuesday.
After being outshot by an 8-2 margin in the opening 45 minutes, the Oles generated eight shots in the second half and got six of those eight shots on goal. St. Olaf was rewarded for the increased offensive pressure when Engle received a short corner from senior
Wren VanDeWalker and sent the ball over the goalkeeper and inside the far post from the right side for her third goal of the season.
VanDeWalker's assist was her 13th of the season, adding to her single-season program record. VanDeWalker began the night tied for fourth in NCAA Division III in assists this season. St. Olaf was playing without senior
Emily Johnson, the joint-leading scorer in the country this season, for the second game in a row due to injury.
Earlier in the second half, senior
Roxanne Rundle nearly broke the deadlock for the Oles, but Bella Jones got down to turn Rundle's shot out for a corner after Rundle cut in from the left and tried to beat Jones at the near post. The closest UW-Eau Claire came to a tying goal came in the 81st minute when Mikalyn Hidde hit the crossbar.
UW-Eau Claire generated 17 shots in the game but was only able to direct three of them on goal. Meanwhile, St. Olaf got eight of its 10 shots on target. Jones tallied seven saves but took the loss for the Blugolds, while sophomore
Charlotte Percy picked up her 10th win of the season with a three-save night. Percy's 10 victories this season are tied for the fourth-highest single-season total in program history.
With a home game in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs already locked up, St. Olaf will close out the regular season with a trip to Hamline University at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31. A win would lock up the No. 3 seed for the Oles in the six-team field.
