Northland Sports Online

Saints Move to UMAC Tiltle Match

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NSO – NEWS RELEASE

 

DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – St. Scholastica men’s soccer advanced to the UMAC Championship game following a 6-0 victory over Crown College on Tuesday afternoon in the UMAC Semifinal game.

The Saints played strong attacking soccer in the first half by controlling possession of the ball and linking pass after pass in the midfield to generate scoring chances. CSS came close to breaking through with a goal multiple times in the early going as they attacked relentlessly.

Finally, in the eighth minute St. Scholastica was able to take a 1-0 lead after Andrew Jenkins (Cardiff, Wales/Whitchurch HS) drove a low, hard shot across the goalmouth from the right side of the box that found Kyle Farrar (Sevenoaks, England/Kelsey Park Sports College) who tucked his shot into the upper netting. The goal was Farrar’s 22nd of the season.

Just four minutes later the Saints would double their lead with a goal from Sean Morgan (Belfast, Ireland/St. Patrick’s Grammar School), his 11th of the season from Tom Corcoran (Warrington, England/Great Sankey HS, Priestley College) and Farrar. Morgan teed the ball up on his dangerous left foot and unleashed a strike into the top left corner from 30 yards out.

Crown tried desperately to send leading scorer Truman Shetler in on goal with balls over the top of the defense but the Saints would not be beaten. Near the end of the first half the Storm made a change in goal bringing in Tanner Fisher for Justin Lao.

The second half of this UMAC Semifinal matchup delivered good and bad news for St Scholastica. CSS started out the half by scoring three unanswered goals. Sean Morgan (Belfast, Ireland/St. Patrick’s Grammar School) made it 3-0 in the 49th minute after Corcoran delivered a perfect through ball onto Morgan’s diagonal run that was finished off with a hard shot beating the keeper far post.  Farrar was credited with the secondary assist on the play.

In the 55th minute Ben Cullen (Clough, Northern Ireland/Shimna Integrated College) gathered a Crown clearing effort near the sideline, beat his defender with finesse move, and crossed a ball into the box that was headed home by Corcoran for his 21st goal of the year. In the 59th minute Cullen scored his third goal of the year with a fantastic individual effort, weaving through a cluster of Storm defenders, then firing his shot past the keeper for the goal to push the lead to 5-0.

In the 60th minute the game took a negative turn for St. Scholastica. Sean Morgan (Belfast, Ireland/St. Patrick’s Grammar School), who already had a yellow card to his name, was issued a second yellow card, which means a red card, following a scramble inside the Saints 18-yard box. The red card means that Morgan will be suspended for the UMAC Championship game on Saturday and the Saints were forced to play out the remainder of the game against Crown a man down.

With the numbers advantage the Storm nearly capitalized on couple occasions but CSS was able to clear the danger just in time. Ben Phillips (Warrington, England/Lymm HS) provided a goal saving header away on one chance, after Saints’ keeper Jacob Ballheimer (Gerrards Cross, England/Chalfonts Community College) found himself in no man’s land, to preserve the shutout bid. Ballheimer denied another Storm opportunity later in the half with a huge save on a Truman Shetler shot.

St. Scholastica would add one more goal before the final whistle blew to make it 6-0. Ben Phillips (Warrington, England/Lymm HS) struck a one-time shot off a Shawayne Folkes (Toronto, Ontario/Maxwell Heights) pass that beat the Storm keeper in the 85th minute. Ballheimer recorded his 14th shutout of the year breaking the Saints single season record of 13.

With the victory the Saints move on and will now play in the UMAC Championship game on Saturday against the University of Minnesota-Morris. The game will be played at Saints Field with the game time to be determined.

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