A second-half goal from midfielder Jaclyn Glaser propelled the St. Thomas women’s soccer team to a 1-0 win over Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the Tommies’ season opener Friday at home.

The matchup was the first played on the South Athletic Fields’ new artificial turf, which replaced the grass fields this summer.

“The new field is very large … it’s a great facility to have,” coach Sheila McGill, who is in her seventh season with the Tommies, said.

The Tommies’ highlighted their offensive play against the Pointers as the women fired eight shots on target, two hitting the crossbar.

The Tommies dominated possession for the first 10 minutes of the game. The team’s skillful passing and ball control through the midfield and offensive half of the pitch helped propel them to victory.

“(The new field) is so big. We love using our space,” forward Katy Scherer said. “We’re able to play how we want to play, and that’s with possession. We have that advantage.”

St. Thomas’ early dominance was slowed by a bending Glaser shot from outside the box that curled over the goalkeeper’s head, ricocheted off the crossbar, and then cleared by the Stevens Point defense to keep the game scoreless.

St. Thomas seemed set to break the deadlock before halftime when forward Camille Horne found herself with open space on the edge of the box. Horne, a freshman playing in her first game at St. Thomas, unleashed a cannon that seemed certain for the top corner of the net, but the ball rang off the crossbar and out of play.

Only moments later, Horne had another opportunity to break the tie when she had a second open look at the net. Horne fired another strike on target, but the Stevens Point keeper parried the shot away, sending the teams to halftime in a scoreless draw.

St. Thomas took the lead 17 minutes after halftime when a cross from the right wing was punched toward the top of the box by Stevens Point keeper Kristen Churkey. Both teams fought for possession of the loose ball in the box before Glaser was able to slot it home, giving the Tommies a one-goal lead. It would be all they needed to complete the shutout, their first clean sheet of the season.

“(We have a) great defensive line that’s returning, great goaltending in there right now, so it’s been strong,” McGill said. “It’s a matter of them playing together as a unit, and they are very composed back there.”

The Tommie women now have a five-game shutout streak, and have played over 500 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal, both which stretch back to last season.

“Our back four is amazing,” goalkeeper Jenny Grahek said. “We all know how to communicate really well and find each other, so as long as we keep that communication up, I think we’re good to go.”

The St. Thomas women’s next game is Sunday at home against UC-Santa Cruz.

“We just want to build on this and continue improving to reach our goals,” Scherer said.

Knights top Tommie men

Forward Ryan Bernhardt’s second-half goal wasn’t enough to lift the St. Thomas men’s soccer team past Wartburg College Friday, as the Tommies fell to the Knights 2-1 in extra time at home.

Despite dominating possession and offensive chances, coach Jon Lowery said the Tommies didn’t capitalize on opportunities in the final third to put the ball in the back of the net.

“I think (scoring) is the hardest part of the game,” Lowery said. “The way (Wartburg) played was certainly predicated on just preventing us from getting into places where we could hurt them, and they did a good job of that.”

However, Lowery also said his team can be more efficient with its scoring chances in the future.

“I think we need to learn to value our chances a bit more,” Lowery said. “I think we were OK creating chances, but we weren’t really ruthless when we had opportunities to finish them.”

The Tommies had chances early and often. Thirteen minutes into the game, St. Thomas put a dangerous cross into Wartburg’s box, leading to a flurry of chances. The attack was finally quelled when a loose ball bounced outside the box and was volleyed by a Tommie midfielder toward the net but out of play.

The Tommies seemed sure to score in the 30th minute when midfielder Amos Nash put forward Alex Bernhardt through the Knights’ back line. Bernhardt, streaking through the left side of the box with a clear look at goal, attempted to slot the ball just inside the far post, but pushed his shot too far wide and sent the ball out of play.

“We just couldn’t finish,” forward Nick Rapisarda said. “We couldn’t put one in the back of the net.”

The Knights finally broke the deadlock just before halftime when a Wartburg midfielder chipped a ball into open space outside the St. Thomas box, allowing a Wartburg forward to run onto the loose ball and put it past the keeper.

The Knights went into halftime leading 1-0.

The second half saw the Tommies furiously fight back to tie the game.

After many chances, the Tommies pulled even with the Knights 20 minutes into the second half when Bernhardt gained control of a loose ball off a corner kick and played it off his chest into the net.

The Tommies continued to dominate on offense for the remainder of the half, outshooting the Knights 15 to five in the game. St. Thomas also held the edge on corner kicks, seven to two.

“We dominated possession. We just need to work on a few little things like finishing,” Rapisarda said.

The game remained tied at the end of regulation, and the teams went to sudden-death extra time to decide a winner.

Despite the lack of goals in regulation, it only took 87 seconds for the Knights to score in extra time.

“Certainly it’s a tough result … but for the first time out we created opportunities, and that’s what we wanted to do, and that’s the way soccer goes sometimes,” Lowery said. “We’re not broken. We’re far from broken, and we look forward to coming back and playing better tomorrow and getting a better result.”

St. Thomas hosts Dubuque at 5 p.m. Saturday in another non-conference match.

Jacob Sevening can be reached at seve8586@stthomas.edu.