The historic win was followed by a 1-1 performance over the weekend.

On Saturday, the Oles traveled to St. Paul to match up against the College of St. Catherine. Kelsey Watt ’07 broke the school record for career goals after sailing the eventual game winner past goal keeper Danielle Weis on a penalty kick. Watt moved ahead of Carolyn Detjen ‘03 on the all-time list.

Katie Beirlien ‘07 added an unassisted goal in the 33rd minute which secured the 2-0 victory.

Head coach Jeremy Driver was pleased with the first 45 minutes.

“That effort put us in position to gain a valuable conference win,” said Driver, who resigned as St. Catherine’s coach last year to take the St. Olaf job.

On Sunday, the Oles met with the Luther Norse in Decorah, Iowa, in what would be the first non-conference defeat for the women’s soccer team. The Norse topped St. Olaf 3-0. The Oles were outshot 19-7 and failed to initiate any sort of scoring threat. Christina Mills ‘10 and Beirlien both had two shots at the net.

Defensively, the Oles were not sharp, allowing Luther to capitalize on their scoring chances.

“When you come out flat, especially defensively, it is very difficult to get in any sort of rhythm,” Driver said. “Against Luther, we could not find any sort of rhythm. We struggled to connect passes and Luther took advantage.”

Tuesday, the Oles played to a scoreless draw with St. Mary’s in Winona. Despite 19 shots, including two breakaways and two point-blank opportunities, St. Olaf failed to capitalize on their chances. Anna Feigum ‘07 had six saves in the game for the Oles.

Mills was recognized as MIAC Player of the Week for posting two game-winning assists during the previous week, helping her squad to a 2-0-1 record over that stretch. Mills now has five assists, good for fifth in the MIAC.

Driver is proud of Mills’ performance this season.

“It’s is very impressive for a first year player to win that award,” Driver said. “Christina has been a consistent contributer and a solid player for us right from the start of the season.” The women’s soccer team now stands at 2-3-2 in MIAC play and 7-4-2 overall. The Oles are pushing for a playoff berth, just three points behind Augsburg for fourth place in the conference.

St. Olaf will take on St. Thomas at home this Saturday at 4 p.m. and Macalester in St. Paul on Friday Oct. 20.

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