St. Bonifacius, Minn. – The Crown women's soccer team dominated in their conference-opening win over Minnesota Morris on Saturday night, defeating the Cougars 4-0. The Polars bossed the game throughout and made all their possession count in the second half, scoring three of their four goals after the break to run away with all three points.
Ella Hollander scored another free-kick just over five minutes into the match, but Crown couldn't find another goal despite outshooting the Cougars 12-4 in the opening 45 minutes.
The second half opened much the same way as the first, with Crown dominating possession, but struggling to create clear-cut chances.
The Polars finally found a breakthrough as Emma Domka won a ball high up the pitch and did very well to send a cross right down the endline and directly in front of goal. With the ball bouncing literally on the line, Trinity Gregory ran through the ball to carry it over the line and stake Crown to a 2-0 advantage.
The floodgates seemed to open with that goal as substitute Ella Hosmer scored on a volleyed finish and Ashley Pierce got a much-deserved goal with a sharp turn and right footed shot from the top of the box.
It was a complete performance from front to back as the front three of Domka, Pierce, and Gregory, along with substitutes Mya Turner, Hosmer, Rylee Fischer, and Mikaya Herdle put constant pressure on the Morris defense and created chances across the 90 minutes.
The midfield trio of Abigail Shull, Lexi Shreve, and Ellie Schanbacher won the ball and maintained possession, dominating the middle of the park.
Emma Bjurstrom and Emma Wall joined the attack from their outside back positions but were also strong in the challenge and the center back pairing of Hollander and Audri Sturgeon ensured that Morris had limited chances as they took turns stepping out from defense to win the ball and recycle the attack. The defense didn't skip a beat as Aletheia Fisher deputized at both outside back and center back in the second half.
Goalkeeper Naomi Grein also deserves special recognition, keeping a clean sheet with five saves including an outstanding double-save in the first half and an excellent save at her near post in the second.
Coach Katie Kandt couldn't have asked for a better start to UMAC play as Crown thoroughly deserved the victory and all three points.
The Polars will now travel to Northwestern (Minn.) for another big UMAC match this coming Thursday.
