BISMARCK, N.D. - Providing the perfect one-two combo on the evening, Christoffer Nogueira connected with Jonathan Sellars twice in the first half to power the University of Mary Men's Soccer team past Saint Martin's University on the night.
 
The Marauders (3-6-1, 2-4-0 GNAC) took advantage of the Saints' (2-7-1, 1-5-0 GNAC) mistakes as Nogueira provided the assist on both of Sellars' goals, first off a free kick and the second off a corner kick, en route to a 2-0 win resulting from a complete team effort.
 
U-Mary put the pressure on early as they had a corner kick attempt in the very first minute of the match and the ensuing header shot from Jordan Pearce sailed high of the goal. Saint Martin's followed that up with three quick shots in the sixth and seventh minute, but the Marauder defense held fast by blocking one shot and preventing a successful attempt off a corner kick.
 
The Saints had a foul a few minutes later that resulted in a free kick attempt for U-Mary, and the front line was set up as Nogueira walked up for the attempt about 40 yards away from the goal. The free kick attempt found the head of Sellars and the shot traveled past the outstretched hands of keeper Nick Rosato to give the Marauders a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute of the match.
 
Saint Martin's responded almost immediately with two shots on goal in the 18th minute from McKray Kohn but Ludvig Rhodin put a stop to both attempts to keep the score in favor of U-Mary.
 
The match devolved into a tug-of-war at that point with both teams trading corner kick attempts and shots wide of the goal, but the Marauders broke through once again, this time coming on a corner kick.
 
Nogueira took the attempt in the 36th minute and Sellars once again fought through everyone to head the attempt past the keeper once again for his second goal of the match that gave U-Mary a 2-0 lead. The remainder of the half stayed relatively quietly but Nogueira took a shot on goal in the 43rd minute to keep Saint Martin's on their toes as Rosato made the save on the back heel attempt.
 
U-Mary kept the action on the Saint's half of the pitch as Nogueira took two more shots on goal, first in the 50th minute and again in the 56th minute, but Rosato kept up with the Marauder's offense with back-to-back saves.
 
Kaleb Strawn took a shot on goal off a free kick in the 61st minute for the Saints, but Rhodin made the smart move and punched the ball away to keep Saint Martin's scoreless on the match.
 
Tempers started to flare at that point as U-Mary's defense made several great stops despite the inevitable body contact between players, but the referees wouldn't have it as the Marauders were issued three separate cautions between the 68th and 74th minutes of the match.
 
The Saints came within inches of narrowing the gap as Kyle Witzel took a shot on goal in the 76th minute, but Rhodin once again made the save to keep his clean sheet intact on the match. Witzel took another shot attempt in the 78th minute but the ball bounced off the crossbar as the Saint still couldn't find the right combination to get on the scoreboard.
 
The match wound down after that point with neither team taking another shot as the Marauders held on for the 2-0 victory for their second win in conference.
 
Jonathan Sellars was perfect on both of his shot attempts as he recorded his first multi-goal match of the year. Christoffer Nogueira provided just the right touch in the match as he took three shots on goal and recorded two assists.
 
Ludvig Rhodin recorded four saves on the evening without giving up a goal for the first clean sheet of his career.
 
As a team, U-Mary took nine shots in the match with six coming on goal. They also took five corner kick attempts while putting a stop to seven corner kicks coming from Saint Martin's.
 
The Marauders will round out the weekend with a match against #18 Seattle Pacific University on Saturday, October 10, starting at 7:30 pm, at the MDU Resources Community Bowl.
 
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