MLC women suffer shutout loss to Crown

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau
Martin Luther College senior defender Grace Seim (17) kicks the ball away from Crown’s Emma Domka (13) during the first half of Saturday’s UMAC women’s soccer game against Crown at the MLC Soccer Pitch in New Ulm.

NEW ULM — Crown College controlled time of possession and had a large shots-on-goal advantage Saturday afternoon to make things tough on the Martin Luther College Knights.

The Polars’ cozy 3-0 halftime lead didn’t help the Knights either as the Polars added two more goals in the second half for a 5-0 shutout win in an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference women’s soccer game.

Lexi Shreve had a hat trick to lead the Polars (5-6-2, 5-2-2).

Knights (4-9-2, 2-5-1) freshman goalie Maria Vik stopped 10 shots in net as the Knights were outshot 15-6 in shots on goal.

Much like the MLC men that played earlier in the afternoon and improved in the second half despite a 4-0 loss to Crown, the MLC women also got an improved effort in the second half of their game.

However, similar results ended the day as Crown goalie Rachel Fuller stopped all six shots she saw to hold on to her shutout.

Crown outshot the Knights 19-5 in the first half and 6-1 in shots on goal. The Knights’ first attempt at the net in the game off the foot of Katie Schoeneck looked promising but quickly sailed high over the net. The Knights’ only shot on goal in the first half came in the 17th minute by Priscilla Boehm that was low and easily scooped up by Fuller for a save.

In the 24th minute, Layla Kerr assisted Ashley Pierce on the first goal of the game. In the 30th minute, Shreve scored her first of three goals in the game on an assist by Ella Hollander.

Shreve scored on another assist by Pierce in the 42nd minute to help give Crown its 3-0 halftime lead.

Naomi Foley kept Fuller busy in the 54th, 55th and 56th minute of play with three consecutive shots on goal for MLC. Fuller stayed with each shot, though, and maintained her team’s 3-0 lead.

Shreve completed her hat trick in the 61st minute on an assist by Ella Hosmer, while Kerr scored her second goal of the day, this time unassisted, in the 70th minute. Schoeneck got her shots lower in the second half and had two on goal in the final 10 minutes, but they were both collected by Fuller.

MLC hosts the University of Minnesota Morris in a 3:30 p.m. game Tuesday.