Forward Brielle Bierman and the St. Thomas women’s soccer team struck first against Concordia-Moorhead, cruising to a 4-1 win Wednesday at South Field.

Bierman put away the first goal for St. Thomas, her fifth of the season, in the 10th minute after a deflection from a corner kick.

“I think it set the tone, and that was the first set piece that we actually scored on this year,” Bierman said. “There was a lot of early anticipation on all those early corner kicks because we really needed to put one in and set the tone.”

Forward Mallory DeBoom followed soon after Bierman with a half volley shot from outside the box, extending the Tommies’ lead to 2-0. With equal possession on both sides, St. Thomas fended off Concordia-Moorhead for the rest of the half.

“We changed formations to be honest,” coach Sheila McGill said. “We went to a new formation and it spreads us out a little bit more, which is good and bad depending, but today it was good. They needed some sort of boost and it really came together because of it.”

Concordia midfielder Morgan Holm spoiled St. Thomas’ shutout bid with a goal just over a minute after DeBoom’s tally. That would prove to be all the Tommies would surrender though.

St. Thomas (4-4 overall, 2-1 MIAC) started off the second half with an intensity that kept Concordia (4-5 overall, 1-3 MIAC) on its heels. Tommie goalkeeper Tarynn Theilig began the half with two great saves, shutting down scoring opportunities.

“We played a 4-4-2,” Theilig said. “We normally play a 4-3-3, and we were able to do some amazing things in this new formation, and our team was just connecting. The team really came to play today.”

Throughout the second half, St. Thomas lead in corner kicks, shots on net and had the majority of ball possession. Midfielder Haley Engel scored in the 53rd minute, followed closely by a one-timer into the upper right corner of the net from midfielder Taylor Skorik. Skorik’s tally pushed the Tommie lead to 4-1 over Concordia and sealed a MIAC win.

The team hopes to continue its momentum and intensity during its game at Hamline this Saturday.

“With the girls, more than anything, it’s confidence … the more confidence they have and the more they feel the positive influence of their teammates around them the more they continue to perform and push themselves,” said McGill. “This should be able to give us some momentum moving forward. They were really happy after today so it’s good to see that smile on their faces finally again.”

Eric Bromback can be reached at brom0030@stthomas.edu.