Late Goal Stops Belles at Trine

Box Score

  • McKenna O'Shea netted her seventh goal of the year for the Belles while putting two shots on goal.
  • Megan Saunders and Cedella Breitenstein each tallied two shots.
  • Lua Derakhshani put a shot on goal.

ANGOLA, Ind. - The Saint Mary's soccer team came up just shy of getting a result in a 2-1 setback at Trine on a hot Sunday afternoon in MIAA action.

While Trine put some pressure on the back line for the Belles early, it was Saint Mary's with the first good chances of the game. Megan Saunders put some power behind a shot from the center of the Belles' offensive end in the 13th minute, but the freshman's strike was caught at the left post by the Trine goalkeeper on Saint Mary's first scoring opportunity of the game. Four minutes later, Brianna Smith drew a foul inside the top-left corner of the 18-yard box to earn a penalty kick for the Belles. McKenna O'Shea took the penalty and coolly sunk the shot inside the left post to give Saint Mary's the 1-0 edge.

The defense continued to stand tall as Callie Doyle and Mary Murphy each came up with blocked shots, and the Belles back line and midfield forced Trine into taking ambitious and off-the-mark strikes through much of the first period of play. After one such defensive stop, the Belles pushed the ball ahead in transition with less than 13 minutes left in the opening half. Molly Murphy played ahead to McKenna O'Shea, and O'Shea carried the ball deep into the offensive end along the right flank. The freshman then sent a dangerous cross into the box toward Brianna Smith, but the connection was just off as the play did not materialize into a scoring chance.

O'Shea later found Cedella Breitenstein at the top of the 18 with no one marking her, but Breitenstein's shot with just over five minutes remaining in the half went a yard high and right of the frame. A minute later, O'Shea fed a ball into the box from the left side of the field toward Emily Lambert, who was making the far post run for Saint Mary's. The cross was cut off before Lambert could cut in for a redirect on the pass. O'Shea and Lua Derakhshani each added a shot on goal over the final few minutes of the half, but the Belles were unable to find the back of the net as Saint Mary's held the 1-0 edge at the break.

Trine equalized in the 56th minute on a penalty kick, but the Belles continued to work hard on both ends of the field to limit the Thunder's chances while trying to build to a go-ahead goal. For a stretch of nearly ten minutes starting in the 77th minute and going until the 86th minute, the Belles put the ball in dangerous space in their offensive end of the field. McKenna O'Shea earned a corner kick for Saint Mary's in that span of time, and the Belles had three chances build off of that one corner kick. The best of which was a strong shot from Cedella Breitenstein inside the box which was deflected by a Trine defender. The Belles pounce on the deflection. Emily Lambert was unable to get a good shot off, and Megan Saunders had a look at a possible shot at the top of the box played away.

The host Thunder used a late push to net the go-ahead goal in the 88th minute as Trine took the 2-1 final.

McKenna O'Shea netted her seventh goal of the year for the Belles while putting two shots on goal. Megan Saunders and Cedella Breitenstein each tallied two shots, and Lua Derakhshani put a shot on goal. Thallia Robles made five saves in goal for Saint Mary's.

The Belles (1-7, 0-6 MIAA) return home to host Albion on Tuesday, September 26 at 7:00 p.m.

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