BISMARCK, ND – Presented with the opportunity to leap forward in the Northern Sun standings, the University of Mary women's soccer team executed perfectly in a 3-0 shutout of Concordia-St. Paul. The victory allowed the Marauders to pass the Golden Bears with one week remaining in the regular season.
 
The Marauders improved to 9-4-2 overall and 7-4-2 in the NSIC with 23 points to trade places with the Golden Bears and move into sixth place. The Golden Bears are 9-6-1 and 7-5-1 for 22 points and now sit in seventh place. The top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament with the best four finishers hosting first round tournament games.
 
"Today was a very important set pieces day," said Marauders head coach Sarah Cook. "I was very impressed with the team's poise defensively and their ability to capitalize on the attack. That was the difference in the game, and they executed brilliantly."
 


A breezy day, the Marauders took advantage of Golden Bears miscues as all three UMary goals were triggered by set pieces off free kicks following CSP fouls.
 
The visiting Golden Bears controlled the opening 15 minutes, taking the first four shots of the game, two requiring Marauders goalkeeper Hannah Smith to make a save.
 
The tide soon turned towards the Marauders, both offensively and defensively. Following a CSP infraction outside the penalty area, Caylin Cathey corralled the ball off the free kick and fired a short-sided shot on frame stopped at the goal line by Golden Bears defenders. With goalkeeper Jordyn Clark out of the picture after trying to make the initial save, Emma Davies quickly pounced on the ball from the left side post and from inside the 6 yard box rolled a shot to the right, sliding the ball past CSP defenders in the 24^th minute. It was the freshman's third goal of the season and second on the weekend.
 
UMary struck again just before intermission. Sitting 38 yards out from the goal, Tiffany Ohlhauser served a high ball off a free kick into the 6 yard box. Megan Lowery beat the CSP defenders to the spot and headed the ball into the goal for her seventh counter of the season to give UMary a 2-0 lead entering intermission.
 
The Marauders sealed the game in the 61^st minute. Following another Golden Bears foul, Jade Smith drilled a free kick from 20 yards out into the right side of the net for a 3-0 lead. Smith tied Lowery for the team lead in goals with seven.
 
The Marauders owned a 14-9 edge in shots and 7-3 in shots on frame while the Golden Bears had a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks.
 
After the early flurry, Hannah Smith had to make just one more save in the game and finished with three to record her sixth clean sheet of the season.
 
The Marauders close out the regular season at MSU Moorhead on Friday, Oct. 27, before hosting Northern State on Sunday, Oct. 29.
 
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