No. 2 seed St. Thomas women’s soccer team took down No. 6 seed Bethel Royals 3-0 Wednesday afternoon in the MIAC semifinal at South Field.
The Tommies (15-2-2 overall, 9-1-1 MIAC) outshot the Royals 19 to 0; one of those shots came from junior midfielder Paige Cater, resulting in the Tommies’ first score of the game 30 minutes into play.
“It’s always hard to get the first one in, but once you do everyone’s pumped up,” Cater said. “Having me start that is really exciting, because I know everyone else is going to jump on that train.”
Cater’s unassisted goal against the Royals (14-6 overall, 6-5 MIAC) made it her fifth of the season.
Bethel played last night defeating St. Catherine’s 3-2 in overtime and didn’t have gas left to keep up with the quick-moving Tommies.
“I thought we had some really fantastic play today,” coach Sheila McGill said. “We played as a unit, moved the ball quickly and kept the ball moving.”
The Tommies scored twice in the second half to cap off the win.
Junior midfielder Kate Heimer scored off an assist from Madeline Bomsta, kicking a ground ball from the left side into the right lower corner. Freshman midfielder Paola Del Moral was knocked down in the box and scored her penalty kick, giving the Tommies the 3-0 win.
Although McGill admitted some of the shots on goal were “soft shots,” she said, “I’m proud of them for trying to get in, creating those opportunities more today than they have in past games.”
The Tommies advance to the MIAC championship game Saturday.
St. Thomas will face the winner of Wednesday evening’s game between No. 1 Augsburg and No. 4 St. Benedict’s. If the Auggies win, St. Thomas will travel to Augsburg Saturday, if the Bennies win, the Tommies will host St. Ben’s.
Carly Noble can be reached at nobl1781@stthomas.edu.