Late Goal Stops Belles Against Scots
Saint Mary's Stories
- Cedella Breitenstein had a goal and an assist to pace the Belles.
- McKenna O'Shea added a goal, and Molly Murphy collected her second assist of the year.
- Thallia Robles made seven saves in goal.
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's soccer team rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the score at 2-2, but an Alma goal in the 89th minute gave the visiting Scots the 3-2 decision on Wednesday evening.
The Belles held their defensive back line throughout much of the opening period of play. Emily Beedie cleared a sure goal off the line; Callie Doyle, Megan Saunders, and Mary Murphy each broke up scoring chances for the Scots; and Thallia Robles collected three saves as the game remained deadlocked at 0-0. Alma, however, broke through with a goal off of a free kick from well outside of the box in the 39th minute to take a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.
Robles opened the second half with two more saves, and the defense forced the Scots into some off-the-mark shots while blocking an effort as the Belles kept close. Alma doubled their lead in the 60th minute on a far-post punch in off of a corner kick, but Saint Mary's made that momentum short-lived. Brianna Smith earned a corner kick for the Belles in the 63rd minute of play. McKenna O'Shea sent the ensuing corner kick into the box, where it was initially played out to the left side of the field. Molly Murphy regained possession at the edge of the box and played the ball to the top of the 18 to Cedella Breiteinstein. The freshman buried her first collegiate goal into the upper 90 of the right corner of the goal to re-energize the Saint Mary's side.
Alma tried to regain the two-goal lead with a handful of chances over the next five minutes of play, but the Belles stood tall on defense and kept the Scots off of the scoreboard during a tense stretch of play. The Belles then drew even with Alma in the 78th minute of action. Breitenstein played a well-weighted pass into space along the left side of the field for McKenna O'Shea. O'Shea gathered the pass and took a couple of touches back to the middle of the field before firing home her ninth goal of the season in almost the same spot of the net as Breitenstein's goal.
Each of the goalkeepers picked up a save over the next six minutes as the clock wound down below the five minute mark. A foul a few yards outside of the center circle gave the Scots a free kick from distance. Alma's Amanda Mladenovski placed the free kick inside the six-yard box, and the ball found teammate Janelle Christensen as the Scots scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 89th minute of play.
Cedella Breitenstein had a goal and an assist to pace the Belles. McKenna O'Shea added a goal, and Molly Murphy collected her second assist of the year. Thallia Robles made seven saves in goal.
The Belles (1-13, 0-12 MIAA) travel to Hope on Saturday for a noon contest against the Flying Dutch.