SUPERIOR, Wis. – Senior
Emily Johnson scored twice to lead the St. Olaf College women's soccer team to a 3-0 non-conference win over UW-Superior on Friday afternoon at Superior Choice Credit Union Stadium.
Johnson scored midway through each half for St. Olaf (1-0-1), which broke open a 1-0 game with two goals in a three-minute stretch in the second half to blank UW-Superior (0-1-0). The game was just the second-ever meeting between the two programs, with the first being a 1-0 win for the Oles on Oct. 29, 2024.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at St. Olaf's Rolf Mellby Field but was moved to UW-Superior's home field on Friday night due to heat and humidity in the forecast for Northfield. The real-feel in Northfield was over 100 degrees, compared to temperatures in the mid-to-upper 60s in Superior.
Facing a program that won the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament to qualify for the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship for the fifth season in a row last year, St. Olaf got on the board first in the 23rd minute on Johnson's first goal of the game. After sophomore
Emma Boyle won the ball in midfield, she beat a defender and got the ball to junior
Rachel Anderson, who one-timed the ball through to get Johnson in a 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper.
The goal was the 30th of Johnson's career, making her the sixth student-athlete in program history to reach the 30-goal milestone. Boyle earned the second assist of her career on the goal, while Anderson picked up her second assist in as many games this season.
Senior
Clara Luger made two diving saves to deny Emma Wright in the span of just over a minute later in the opening half. Senior
Wren VanDeWalker nearly doubled the Oles' lead at halftime, but her chipped shot from the left side of the box in the closing seconds of the half clipped the crossbar near the top-right corner.
After being outshot 6-4 in shots on goal in the opening 45 minutes, St. Olaf tallied all seven of the second half's shots on target. The Oles doubled their lead in the 65th minute when a Yellowjacket defender headed a lofted free kick into the box by sophomore
Ashley Payne in for an own goal.
Just over three minutes after the own goal, Johnson pressured the UW-Superior goalkeeper and got her foot in a passing lane before finishing into an empty net to cap the scoring. Johnson tied Virginia Hopper '99 for fifth in program history with the 31st goal of her career and completed the sixth multi-goal game of her career.
Luger stopped all six shots she faced for the sixth shutout of her career for St. Olaf, while Cayley Larsen made 11 saves for UW-Superior in the loss.
The Oles will return home to face the University of Dubuque at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 6 at Rolf Mellby Field.
