ASHLAND, Wis. – The University of Minnesota Morris women's soccer team posted its second shutout victory over Northland College on the year with a 2-0 road win on Saturday afternoon in rainy conditions in Wisconsin. The Cougars improve to 3-9-2 (3-5-2 UMAC) with the win.
After struggling to find a way past Northland keeper Elysabeth Lough last month in Morris and ultimately winning, 1-0, on a LumberJill own goal, Minnesota Morris jumped ahead early with a
Maddie Schneider corner kick that curled into the bottom of the net in the fourth minute to stake the Cougars to the early lead. Shortly after, Northland's Clara Schmiesing was given a yellow card in the 12th minute and then shown a straight red in the 13th minute to leave the LumberJills a player down the remainder of the match.
Minnesota Morris bossed the match throughout, but particularly in the first half as the Cougars enjoyed a 16-2 edge in total shots. However, Lough continued to be tough to beat and UMN Morris went to the break with just the one-goal lead thanks to eight Lough saves in the first 45 minutes.
The one-way traffic continued early in the second half with shots from
Bella Toth and
Kim Peters saved by Lough in the first three minutes before Peters struck the woodwork in the 51st minute. The sustained pressure finally paid off in an unlikely way in the 66th minute, when an attempted Northland clearance was hit straight into the leg of
Caroline O'Donnell and redirected past Lough to give Minnesota Morris a 2-0 advantage.
While most of the action was on one side of the field,
Chantel Peralta did make three saves in goal for the Cougars and earned her first career shutout. The goal was Schneider's second for the season and the first of O'Donnell's career. Peters led Minnesota Morris with six shots on the day, while Schneider and
Jadyn Sondrol each had four. Toth and O'Donnell added three each as the Cougars outshot the LumberJills, 26-3.
Minnesota Morris returns home to Cougar Field on Tuesday afternoon to host Martin Luther College at 1 p.m.
