After a slow start with one goal in the first half, the St. Thomas women’s soccer team picked up the pace, putting in two more goals and beating Concordia-St. Paul 3-1 Saturday in a scrimmage at South Field.
Senior midfielder Kate Heimer immediately put the Tommies on the board within the first two minutes of the game.
“It was exciting,” Heimer said. “I wasn’t super confident, but Tessa (Trettel) gave a really nice ball, and I was very thankful when it went in.”
Coach Sheila McGill used the scrimmage against a Division II team as a challenge for the Tommies.
“We knew it was going to be a stronger, faster, more physical kind of play, and we prepared for that,” McGill said.
McGill found “individual leadership” on the field, while also “making it happen as a team.”
“Everyone was moving, everyone was responding to what was unfolding within the game,” McGill said, “so I thought that was really fantastic.”
After a goal by Concordia at the start of the second half to tie it up, senior forward Tessa Trettel responded with a goal giving the Tommies the lead back.
“I feel like I’ve had a lot of opportunities and I haven’t capitalized on them,” Trettel said. “I was just really happy that I got one in the back of the net.”
Junior forward and midfielder Kristen Epperly put one more in to give the Tommies a comfortable two-goal lead.
The Tommies play at 4 p.m. Tuesday at St. Ben’s, and will finish their shortened season Saturday at 1 p.m. back at home against Bethel.
“We want to get better each game, we want to play stronger each time we play and come together,” McGill said. “That’s our objective for the next two games.”
Justin Amaker can be reached at justin.amaker@stthomas.edu.