09/16/06

Most solo scoring runs don’t begin near midfield but Shannon Kresky’s improbable bob and weave down the left sideline eventually brought her face to face with a charging goalkeeper from Minnesota-Morris.

St. Scholastica’s Kresky made one move then chipped the ball past the prone keeper to open the scoring in the conference-opener for both teams today at Duluth’s Public Schools Stadium.

The first half goal would prove to be the game-winner for the Saints (3-1-1 overall, 1-0-0 UMAC) as they downed the Cougars (2-2-1, 0-1-0) by a 2-0 score behind Kresky’s and senior Keely Raab’s second-half score.

Today’s game was a match-up between the 2005 regular season UMAC champion Saints and the post-season tournament champion Cougars.

Morris started off looking more like their ’05 champion squad than did the Saints in the first half. St. Scholastica’s stingy defense was tested and pressed throughout most of the initial 25 minutes.

It wasn’t until Kresky took things into her own hands, or feet, that the Saints seemed to find their footing.

Though they had the first two shots in the game, St. Scholastica didn’t register another while Morris was taking six.

Kresky’s goal in the 32^nd minute swung the momentum in favor of the Saints for the remainder of the opening half.

A determined Cougar squad picked up two quick shots to open the second half but a little more than 12 minutes in, Raab gathered a cross from the left side by sophomore Robin Johnson and buried the ball into the back of the net to stretch the Saints lead to two goals.

For the rest of the game St. Scholastica played solidly enough to keep the pressure on but never out-positioned themselves to allow the Cougars to take a crack at goalkeeper Kelly Momsen, shutting down the Morris offense to the final horn.

Momsen, the UMAC’s defensive player of the week the opening week of the season, finished with five saves for the Saints, two in the first half from point blank range that kept the game scoreless until Kresky’s run.

St. Scholastica’s Saints will entertain the Saints from Presentation College in their next game, a noontime Sunday conference match at PSS.