Men’s soccer falls short against Carleton

Despite peppering the Carleton goal with eight shots, forward Shae Bottum and the St. Thomas men’s soccer team fell to the Knights 1-0 in double overtime Tuesday at South Field.

St. Thomas (9-6-1 overall, 4-4-1 MIAC) spent the first half fending off Carleton’s aggressive offense. Tommie goalkeeper Grant Larson shut down multiple scoring opportunities and stopped the Knights from taking an early lead.

“We knew Carleton was going to be full of quality,” coach Jon Lowery said. “I thought we managed it well in the first half.”

Both teams struggled to maintain ball possession throughout the first half and were plagued by several fouls and turnovers. St. Thomas was assessed seven penalties in the first half alone. Each team aimed for quick counters down the field after turnovers, creating a fast-paced game.

“Part of the problem in the first half was that we were a little bit more conservative in our approach,” Lowery said. “We didn’t have too many players in … attacking spots because we wanted to settle the game down.”

The Tommies were limited to just two shots in the first half but picked up their play in the second. St. Thomas began the second half with a new tenacity, controlled more of the possession and created scoring opportunities against the Carleton (8-5-4 overall, 5-2-2 MIAC) defense.

“We just had a lot of movement up front in the second half, and that’s why we got chances,” Bottum said.

While Carleton couldn’t solve St. Thomas goalkeeper Grant Larson, none of the Tommie shots snuck past Knights goalkeeper Brandon Hilliard either. At the end of 90 minutes, the Knights led with 13 shots, and the Tommies trailed behind with eight.

“Neither team really had any chances. I thought they had a little bit more of it,” Lowery said. “Then at halftime we had some good conversations, and then I feel like we had a really good second half.”

In the first half of extra time, St. Thomas owned the ball and Carleton failed to maintain forward possession. Both teams picked up where they had left off and continued the fast-paced intensity that originated from regular time.

“The communication defensively was working well. We always knew where each other were,” Larson said. “Everyone knew who they were marking and what they had to do.”

After a quick counter in the 103rd minute, Carleton midfielder Danny Leal dribbled past multiple St. Thomas defenders and rolled it past Larson into the net.

“It was just one mental give-up,” Bottum said. “It led to the goal … we just have to be mentally turned on the whole time.”

St. Thomas currently holds the sixth and final MIAC playoff spot and sits three points ahead of seventh place Augsburg. In a game rich with playoff implications, the Tommies will travel to Minneapolis Friday to take on the Auggies in the regular season finale.

“I don’t want to call it a season of disappointment because our season isn’t over and we’re going to go fight on Friday night for a playoff spot,” Lowery said. “I really like these guys and we’re a good little team that’s just been on the wrong end of some tough games.”

Eric Bromback can be reached at brom0030@stthomas.edu.