Women’s soccer ties, clinches conference playoff bid

The St. Thomas women’s soccer team tied with Carleton at home on a frigid Wednesday night after playing through two overtimes.

The Tommies (8-6-3 overall, 6-3-1 MIAC) entered the game needing a win or a tie to secure a position in the postseason. Coach Sheila McGill said the team played hard the entire game, but the shots on goal just weren’t enough to pull out a win.

“We came out mentally ready. We knew we needed a win or a tie to earn a final spot in the playoffs, and so coming out, the girls were ready,” McGill said. “Our seniors got us fired up, and we had some opportunities. We just didn’t put them away.”

Carleton had 17 shots, with four of them coming in the second period of extra time. However, the Knights were able to get only eight of those shots on net, and goalkeeper Tarynn Theilig saved all eight. The Tommies managed three shots on goal out of their eight total shots.

McGill added that a flurry of injuries also slowed down the team’s offense.

“We had four players go down today, and we had another one out with a concussion, so that definitely doesn’t help,” McGill said. “We will need some rest and time to heal up heading into the playoffs.”

Center back Hailey Zweber said that while she was happy to clinch a postseason berth, she wasn’t satisfied with how the team played.

“We needed a tie to secure a position in playoffs and … we were able to do that, so we are content with this tie,” Zweber said. “We had a few breakaways that we just couldn’t put away. We need to finish on our opportunities.

Center back Victoria Vargas said that the team will have to stay focused heading into the postseason.

“It’s all mental. We know that teams are beatable. We just have to know that we want it more than them,” Vargas said.

St. Thomas takes on Augsburg at 7 p.m. Saturday in its final regular-season conference matchup.

Luke Moe can be reached at moe95234@stthomas.edu.