10/14/06

Saturday's 1-0 win at Bethany Lutheran pushed the Saints' current win streak to 12 games and their unscored upon streak to seven games.

The team record for consecutive wins is 19, set in 2004, while the last team to score on the Saints this season was Northwestern College in a 2-1 loss, September 23 in St. Paul.

Like with many of their games during the streak, on Saturday in Mankato the Saints used a stingy defense to control possession and a powerful attack to keep their opponent backing up and on their heels.

Their one goal victory was largely a circumstance of missed finishing opportunities and great goaltending from Katie Renner of the Vikings.

In all, the Saints took 48 shots in the game compared to only one shot on goal by Bethany Lutheran. Nineteen shots were on net with Renner stopping 18 of them but it was only the fourth shot of the game by the Saints that got Renner and the Vikings in trouble.

In less than three minutes after the opening touch, the Saints had already taken three cracks at the Bethany Lutheran net. It was Shannon Kresky's unassisted goal at 2:57 into the game that effectively sealed the fate of the Vikings.

A St. Scholastica defense led by Dani Determan, Becky Fisher and center back Cortney Mckenzie kept the Vikings from pressing in on keeper Kelly Momsen who only needed one save to record her seventh shutout of the season. As Mandy Hanson and Ellyn Litecky subbed into that defensive line, Bethany Lutheran was still unable to sneak anything by toward Momsen proving the depth of the Saints and their bench.

The win moves the Saints to 14-1-1 overall and 11-0-0 in the UMAC where they lead second place Minnesota-Morris (11-3-1, 9-2-0) by six points in the league standings. A win at home over Northland College on Tuesday, October 17, would clinch the regular-season title for the Saints which would be their third in a row.