Tommie women slip past Norse with late goal

Forward Katy Scherer’s goal in the 77th minute pushed the St. Thomas women’s soccer team past Luther College (Iowa) 1-0 Sunday at home.

The non-conference victory moves the Tommies to a 4-3 overall record and 1-0 conference record. For coach Sheila McGill, the team’s win not only contributed to the Tommies’ record, but helped give the MIAC a more competitive edge.

“If we beat a team from another conference that’s in our region, it makes our conference look stronger,” McGill said. “It helps every single game that the rest of our MIAC actually plays in and allows us to be able to be ranked higher than a different conference.”

Coming out with a bang in the first half, the Norse controlled the ball with dynamic offensive play. The Tommies came out slower than usual, McGill said, and were not able to match the Norse’s play.

“We came out real slow today, actually,” McGill said. “It was not the kind of game we usually play.”

Luther’s offense had a solid chance to score the 40th minute when Norse forward Melisse Chassé booted a high shot on the Tommie goal, missing high. Despite the slow start, St. Thomas had six shots on goal during the first half to Luther’s three.

Neither team was able to capitalize offensively and went into the half tied 0-0.

McGill said the women were hoping to “raise the team’s level” in the second half.

Battling back and forth on offense, Scherer finally broke the scoreless play with her goal in the 77th minute, assisted by midfielder Camille Horne. The goal marked Scherer’s first goal of the season after coming back from an ACL injury.

For Scherer, the goal couldn’t have been more satisfying.

“I’ve been waiting for that, wanting for that for so long,” she said.

Horne said she was more than happy to contribute to Scherer’s success.

“I want nothing but to help Scherer get back on track,” Horne said. “Helping her get her goal coming back off this ACL injury means so much; I know how bad she wanted it.”

The Tommies pressed strong offensive and defensive play, controlling the rhythm of the game for the last 13 minutes until time expired.

Scherer said the Tommies’ control in the second half was crucial to the team’s victory.

“I think the first half we were just a couple steps too slow,” Scherer said. “All 11 of us out there and the bench … picked it up. We gave that 10 percent more and we won with that.”

The team looks to improve from Sunday’s win when it hosts Concordia-Moorhead at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Men’s soccer triumphs in double-overtime thriller

After battling into double overtime, forward Nick Rapisarda’s game-winning goal gave the St. Thomas men’s soccer team the boost it needed to top No. 19-ranked Luther College 3-2 Sunday on the Tommies’ home turf.

The men stand at 5-1-2 overall and 0-0-1 in the conference on the season. Coach Jon Lowery said the team’s non-conference sweep is rewarding.

“We put together a difficult non-conference for moments like this,” Lowery said. “To find out where we’re at, and not only where we’re at, but what it takes go to the next level.”

The first half started off when St. Thomas forward Ryan Bernhardt bicycle-kicked the ball into the net in the second minute of play, his first goal of the season.

Luther didn’t waste time finding the goal either. Norse midfielder J. W. Slauson found the net in the 12th minute, leveling the score to 1-1.

Keeping the Tommie offense moving forward to counter Slauson’s goal, defender Miles Stockman-Willis netted his own goal in the 24th minute of play, marking his fourth of the season.

Stockman-Willis said he was happy to contribute to the team’s successful offense.

“It felt awesome just doing my part to help the team win,” Stockman-Willis said. “It’s all about just putting points on the board. Whoever scores it, it doesn’t matter.”

Heading into the second half, Norse defender Ryan Medina slotted a goal off an assist by defender Josh Parris, evening the score to 2-2.

Both teams battled into a second overtime, running the clock down with aggressive offensive and defensive efforts.

It wasn’t until the 107th minute that Rapisarda ended the game, scoring a game-winning goal and securing the Tommies’ victory.

“It was the first really good chance I had all game. I kind of struggled to get open, and then the one opportunity I got, I put it away,” Rapisarda said. “I haven’t scored many game winners in my career, so that’s pretty cool.”

Looking ahead, Lowery said the team will use the win to fuel them into their next MIAC matchup against Concordia-Moorhead at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

“We’re hungry—we’re starving right now in the MIAC,” Lowery said. “What I’ve been talking to the guys about is, ‘let’s just trust the process’ … and if we do trust that process, we’ll be great this week.”

Sean Crotty can be reached at crot0230@stthomas.edu.