Posted: Sep 09, 2023
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's soccer team was unable to get on the scoreboard in a physical 1-0 setback against DePauw on Saturday afternoon.
The defense stayed steady early on as the Tigers pressed from the get-go. Caroline Miklavcic came up with a point-blank save off of a loose ball shot in the box after a corner kick, and the sophomore collected another save in the tenth minute. A handful of blocked shots by the Belles along with another save by Miklavcic continued to keep DePauw from finding the back of the net. Izzy Sherman and Lauren Ryan each had a shot, and Kaitlyn Day had an effort tail high and off the mark in the 24th minute.
DePauw took advantage of a loose ball on a free kick to strike for a goal. The Tigers' free kick lofted high and glanced off the crossbar and into space, where a DePauw player hit a clean shot from the top of the box and in for what proved to be the lone goal of the game.
The Belles had a pair of chances in the first half that just missed from fully materializing. Grace Brown gained possession at midfield and carried the ball well into the attacking end before slotting a pass to Margaret Slove, but the forward was unable to find the back of the net on the chance. In the closing moments of the first period, Grace Barresi played a ball for Claire Keely into the box. Keely could not quite square up her shot as the effort went wide left of goal and the Belles trailed 1-0 at the half.
The second half was a back-and-forth battle all across the pitch. Mary Kaczynski played a well-paced ball into space on the left side of the field for Margaret Slove. Slove then sent a cross into the box toward Izzi Linus, but the cross was cut off just in front of the junior by the goalkeeper. Another cross moments later by Kaczynski was also dangerous but was unable to connect with a teammate. Grace Brown found Kaitlyn Day with a solid ball in the 62nd minute as Day fired a shot on goal. A string of connecting passess between Kaczynski, Lauren Ryan, and Day built to another shot in transition as Day's effort was blocked immediately off her foot for a corner kick. Day had another chance blocked, Grace Barresi had a shot tail wide left, and Layne Ridderman saw a shot saved as the Belles saw several chances come up empty-handed.
Kaitlyn Day, Grace Barresi, Izzy Sherman, Margaret Slove, Lauren Ryan, Layne Ridderman, and Claire Keely all registered at least one shot in the game. Caroline Miklavcic collected six saves in goal.
The Belles (1-2) are on the road on Wednesday when they travel to Anderson for a 5:00 p.m. match.