Two penalty kick goals from defender Halvor Houg helped the No. 2 St.Thomas men’s soccer team defeat No. 3 Carleton 3-0 Wednesday afternoon in the MIAC semifinal at South Field.

The Tommies opened the scoring 37 seconds into the match, taking control from the start.

“Two penalties was obviously out of the norm, but territorial we created those chances and earned them,” coach Jon Lowery said. “It was a grind, but I’m really really happy for the guys.”

Midfielder George Marty scored the opener for the Tommies, a play that really “set the tone” for the match according to Houg.

Houg, a junior captain, is now 4-for-4 on penalty kick attempts this season; his goal tally is now up to eight goals as he leads the team in scoring in 2019.

“I did my research on the goalie ahead of today and you can see it paid off,” Houg said. “Earning two penalties really helped us, but the whole team contributed today. It was all around a full team effort.”

The Tommie defense played a lights-out performance, only allowing a single shot on net against senior goalkeeper Troy Louwagie. Louwagie is unbeaten this season in net (9-0-1).

Coach Lowery highlighted that the “defensive prowess” is one of the most successful parts of his team, and that even though the gametime temperature was 30 degrees at kickoff, it didn’t factor into their performance.

“We just want to keep playing, we’ve talked about it internally, and anytime, any place, we’ll show up and be there,” Lowery said. “Anytime you’re playing soccer in November, you know you’ve got a good feeling inside of you.”

The Tommies play in their fourth MIAC championship game in five years Saturday.

The Tommies will face the winner of Thursday’s semifinal game between No. 1 Gustavus and No. 4 Saint John’s. If the Gusties win, St. Thomas will travel to Gustavus Saturday, if the Johnnies win, the Tommies will host St. John’s.

Jacob Schneider can be reached at schn6923@stthomas.edu.