by Dave DeMars
news@thenewsleaders.com
Sabres lance the Tigers for 2-1 win
The Sabres women’s soccer team started the year with a victory Aug. 24 over Princeton High School when Saylor Voss tucked away a first-half goal on a rebound from the Princeton goalkeeper to put Sartell on top in the early going. Later in the second half, Jenna Eibes showed some fancy footwork and scored late in the second half to secure the win.
Reyna Hager, the Sabre goalkeeper, made five saves in her first varsity start to help secure the victory.
Blake Bears 1-1
Coach Roy Snyder said early in the season that Blake was one of the top five soccer schools in the state, and he knew he had something special if his young team played well against the Bears when they met. Snyder got his answer the afternoon of Aug. 26 when the Sabre girls clawed their way to a 1-1 tie with Blake.
The game was an intense non-conference contest. Nevertheless, it was a measuring stick for the Sabre women. The Bears had the better of the possession time and controlled the ball and were in the Sabre half of the field much of the afternoon. But gritty defensive effort by the Sabre women turned the Bears away on numerous occasions. Outstanding defensive efforts by Emma Larson, Ashley Kesler, Brenna Chisolm and Lizzy Minnerath kept the Bears tamed the first half of the match. Blake finally broke through early in the second half to take a 1-0 lead. But the Sartell girls didn’t quit and kept pressing the Bears. With less than 20 minutes remaining, Sartell found a seam to exploit and Emma Janu put the ball in the back of the net for her first varsity goal. The two teams battled through the final 15 minutes with no more scores and the match was sent into overtime.
In the overtime period, neither side could find a weakness to exploit for a score. Sartell goalkeeper Hager made a pair of outstanding saves in the overtime period to earn the tie.
Sartell will take on St. Cloud Apollo at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5 at Apollo, and St. Cloud Tech at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11 at SCSU.