Junior forward Mallory DeBoom advances the ball towards the Tommies’ goal in the first half of the game. Both teams went scoreless through the first half. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Senior defender Hailey Zweber eyes up the field as play resumes after a stoppage. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Sophomore forward Elizabeth Muench protects the ball as the Tommies get into scoring position early in the second half. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Freshman forward Paige Cater pushes the ball closer to striking distance as her teammates watch on. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Senior forward Brielle Bierman jukes out Grace Torcinske as she advances the ball down the field. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Junior defender Shelby Stalberger fights off a Piper defender for possession. The Tommies maintained possession for a majority of the game. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Tommie forward Junior Mallory DeBoom is tackled near the goal. DeBoom led the Tommies with two shots on goal.
(Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Junior midfielder Brie Bourdage attempts to steal possession from Piper midfielder Grace Torcinske. The Tommie defense held the Pipers to just three shots on goal through the match. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Hamline’s bench celebrates after midfielder Jenna Sampson’s goal in the 85th minute of the game. The goal was the only point scored in the contest. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Midfield Tess Baier pushes the ball down the field with under five minutes left to play. The Tommies were held scoreless with five shots on goal. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Fatigued, Sophomore Midfielder Elizabeth Luotto desperately hopes for a window to score as the game clock winds down. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
The Tommies huddle after a 1-0 defeat against Hamline. The loss is the first of the season for the Tommies. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
The St. Thomas women’s soccer team dropped their first game of the season against the Hamline Pipers Thursday at home 1-0.
The Tommies (2-1 MIAC, 5-1-1 overall) fought hard against a stout Piper (2-1 MIAC, 4-2-1 overall) defense throughout the game. Junior forward Mallory DeBoom led the Tommie offense with two shots on goal. Both teams were kept quiet through the first half.
Hamline came close to putting up points in the first half on a late drive mounted by forward Kaley Roberts. Tommie goalkeeper Olivia Elvidge blocked a powerful shot on goal by Roberts to keep the game at tied going into the half.
Both teams traded possessions with scoring potential to open up play in the second half. Elvidge made a crucial block on a shot made by Piper forward Ashlee Olson to keep Hamline from an early second-half lead. The Tommies were routinely denied by Armstrong, who blocked all five shots on goal. Forward Brielle Bierman powerfully attempted a goal which was blocked by Hamline’s goalkeeper Kat Armstrong.
With less than six minutes remaining in the second half, Piper midfielder Jenna Sampson fired the game winning goal, making the final score 1-0, with five shots on goal for St. Thomas and three for Hamline.
The clock was fighting against St. Thomas after the goal, and they could not mount a scoring drive St. Thomas forward Paige Cater expressed one of the team’s mistakes.
“Today, we had our chances. We definitely put a lot of effort in but we didn’t get out of it what we had hoped for. (Hamline) capitalized when we didn’t,” she said.
St. Thomas coach Sheila McGill noted that the team didn’t show up to play today.
“We let the other team set the tempo. It turned into a direct play rather than possession play, and we are a possession team,” she said.
Despite the loss, the Tommies are tied for second in the MIAC standings with six points. Cater wants the Tommies to show the other teams that they are still the team to beat.
“One game isn’t going to let us down,” she said. “We are going to keep going up and up.”
“We are not broken but we need to be able to problem solve on the field faster and better,” McGill said. “We can’t have let down games, and this was a let down game.”
MacKenzie Bailey can be reached at bail7757@stthomas.edu