ST. PETER, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's soccer team began Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play with a 4-0 road victory over Gustavus Adolphus College on Wednesday afternoon at Gustie Soccer Field.
St. Olaf (3-0-3, 1-0-0 MIAC) scored twice in each half on its way to remaining unbeaten this season with the shutout of Gustavus (1-4-1, 0-1-0 MIAC). With the victory, the Oles improved to 6-1-1 in the last eight meetings with the Gusties since 2018.
Junior
Rachel Anderson scored twice, while senior
Emily Johnson had a goal and an assist in the victory for St. Olaf. First year
Faye Leitner added her first collegiate goal, while senior
Wren VanDeWalker, senior
Lillian Rediger, and first year
Blakeley Bourke all tallied assists.
Johnson extended her scoring streak to five games by scoring the opening goal in the eighth minute, as she put home a rebound after her penalty kick was saved by Katelyn Olson. The penalty kick came after senior
Roxanne Rundle was dragged down from behind in the box. The goal was the eighth of the season and the 37th of the career for Johnson, who entered the game tied for second in NCAA Division III in goals this season.
Anderson extended St. Olaf's lead to 2-0 in the 29th minute by tapping the ball in off cutback from Johnson from near the end line on the left. Johnson has had a goal and an assist in each of the last three games for the Oles.
Less than three minutes into the second half, Anderson got her second goal of the game by flicking the ball in after VanDeWalker got the ball to Rediger, who centered the ball to Anderson. Anderson has scored in four consecutive games and notched the second multi-goal game of her career in the win.
Leitner finished off the scoring in the 74th minute off an assist from Bourke, with both of the first years picking up the first points of their respective careers. St. Olaf outshot Gustavus by a 20-15 margin overall and a 13-10 margin in shots on goal.
Coming off a career-high 13 saves at UW-Platteville on Saturday, sophomore
Charlotte Percy had 10 more to claim her first win of the season. Olson made nine saves in the loss for the Gusties.
St. Olaf will play its next three games at home, starting with a 1 p.m. kickoff against Saint Mary's University on Saturday, Sept. 19.
