A solid defensive performance led the St. Thomas women’s soccer team (16-2 overall, 10-1 MIAC) to a 2-0 victory over St. Catherine University (11-3-2 overall, 7-2-2 MIAC) in the MIAC playoffs semifinal round.

Defender Alex Balfour opened the scoring for the Tommies in the 66th minute, and midfielder Ellie Eskierka finished off the game in the 84th. The Tommie defense tested out a new formation today playing with a back line of four defenders instead of the usual three. It proved to be successful, as they kept their opposition scoreless.

“We wanted to make sure we had the whole back space covered, instead of having to have our midfielders recover back for those dangerous balls all the time,” coach Sheila McGill said. “We wanted to be able to release our outside mids forward into the attacking third.”

One of those forwards, Mallory DeBoom, energized the team when she hit the crossbar in the 33rd minute of the game.

After squandering two prime scoring opportunities, Balfour launched a strike from outside the box. It was her first career goal.

“I honestly couldn’t believe it, I honestly don’t ever score from defense,” Balfour said. “It’s really exciting that I kept my composure and just placed it.”

Following Balfour’s goal, Eskierka capitalized on a defensive mistake to put the Tommies up 2-0.

Keeping St. Kate’s scoreless was one of the Tommies’ priorities today. McGill said the team couldn’t have done it without a great performance from their entire backline.

“You can’t have a shutout without communication on the backline; it’s so important for all of us,” defender Shelby Stahlberger said. “It feels amazing to say that our defense, and our whole team, has the ability to go for a conference title on Saturday.”

The Tommies host Augsburg Saturday  at South Field in the MIAC championship.

Jacob Schneider can be reached at schn6923@stthomas.edu.