First-year midfielder McKenna Lehman and sophomore midfielder Mariah Nguyen scored a goal each as the St. Thomas women’s soccer team bested Oral Roberts 2-1 Sunday at South Field.
The Tommies (4-2-3, 1-0-1 Summit) earned their first conference win of the season after scoring twice in the first 15 minutes against the Golden Eagles (6-5-1, 1-1-0 Summit).
“We knew that they start strong typically,” coach Sheila McGill said. “We had such great energy on Friday and that forward group went in and they started connecting quickly.”
Lehman’s goal came in the seventh minute after an excellent pass from Nguyen put her behind defenders. Nguyen scored her own goal nearly five minutes later after blocking a clearing attempt by Oral Roberts, extending the Tommies’ lead.
Nguyen and Lehman also connected on a goal against Kansas City on Friday. Both have either scored or assisted on all three goals scored in conference play this season.
“They’re playing well together,” McGill said. “I think they did a really good job of reading each other today.”
Oral Roberts scored following a free kick in the 21st minute. Solid defense from both teams kept the remainder of the half scoreless.
“Defense was super solid,” Lehman said. “We just were really frantic until the end of the half, but I think once the second half came, we got composed.”
The second half was also scoreless as the Tommies clamped down on a win despite a frenzied last five minutes.
“We duked out two great games in a row, first Summit League appearance, and we got four points out of it,” McGill said.
The Tommies play next on Friday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. in Fargo, North Dakota against North Dakota State.
Sam Larson can be reached at lars4378@stthomas.edu.