BISMARCK, ND – A trio of goals by a pair of freshmen rallied the University of Mary women's soccer team to a 3-1 win over visiting Concordia-St. Paul. Just a point ahead of the Golden Bears for 5^th place in the Northern Sun standings entering the game, Kendra Park tallied twice and Brianna Ramey once as the Marauders expanded their standings lead over the Golden Bears on the opening game of Breast Cancer Awareness Weekend for UMary.
 
"We fought for a cause today, something bigger than us, in honor of breast cancer survivors, fighters, and to honor those who have been taken," said UMary head coach Sarah Cook.
 
"I'm so proud of the team to come back from behind and dig in for the win. The pressing out of our forwards was amazing tonight. Kendra Park came up big, and yet another brilliant service from Hannah Richter to Brianna Ramey for a sensational corner kick goal."
 
The Golden Bears came out on fire. With a strong wind to their backs, Concordia-St. Paul pressed the action early and scored first when Jena Berkland cleaned up a loose ball in front of the net just 8:02 into the game.
 
The Marauders defenders soon regained their footing and held the Golden Bears at bay, setting up UMary's first quality scoring opportunity late in the opening half.
 
Breaking out of the Marauders defensive zone, Noelle Vignieri threaded a perfect through ball that evaded a trio of defenders to land at the feet of the Park, who quickly unleashed a shot from atop the penalty area past quickly-closing Concordia goalkeeper Jessi Jordan into the back of the net to even the game at 1-1 in the 33^rd minute.
 
The Marauders struck once again early in the second half. Just 53 seconds out of intermission, Park received a pass from Cassidy Pierce with a defender on her back. Park rolled to her left into empty space in the middle of the field and drilled a blast from nearly 25 yards out to give UMary a 2-1 lead.
 
Ramey sealed the win off a set piece in the 60^th minute. With Hannah Richter serving a corner kick from the right of the goal, Ramey found empty space in the upper right corner of the goal box and headed the ball into the left side of the net for a 3-1 UMary lead.
 
Park now leads the team with five goals. Ramey is tied with Richter for second with four counters.
 
Defensively the Marauders held the Golden Bears to a total of nine shots with three on frame. UMary took seven shots and scored on all three of its attempts on goal. Madisyn Waltman finished with two saves in the game for UMary while Jordan was credited with no saves.
 
The Golden Bears held a 5-2 edge in corner kicks while the Marauders were whistled for nine fouls to five for the visitors.
 
The Marauders wrap up the weekend with a visit from #25 Minnesota State University at 1 pm on Sunday, Oct. 24.
 
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