Posted: Sep 08, 2021
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's soccer team got a pair of goals from Rose Stackhouse as the Belles prevailed 2-0 over visiting Aurora on Wednesday evening.
After withstanding early high pressure from the visiting Spartans, the Belles had a trio of scoring chances in the opening ten minutes of action. Izzi Linus fired a shot toward the post in the fifth minute only to have the effort saved. A combination play by Linus, Sophie Bubnar, and Rose Stackhouse saw the final pass carry just beyond the reach of Stackhouse in the ninth minute. Less than a minute later, Linus curled a shot toward the right post as the Aurora keeper made a diving stop to push the ball out of play for a Saint Mary's corner kick.
Stackhouse put the Belles on the scoreboard in the 18th minute of play. Lindsey Adent played a ball up the middle toward the top of the 18-yard box, and Sophie Bubnar redirected the ball ahead and into space in the right side of the box. Stackhouse had a step on her defender already and quickly beat the Aurora player to the ball before punching in the first goal of the contest.
Becca Stella had a volley effort in the 29th minute carry over the crossbar as the Belles kept up the pressure while trying to add to their advantage. Another combination play by Caroline O'Keefe, Stackhouse, and Jillian Bowen with under ten minutes remaining in the half did not fully materialize into a scoring chance, and Sydney Skarbek saw her dangerous cross from the left touchline travel all the way through the box without a target with two minutes left on the clock.
It did not take long for the Belles to capitalize on a free kick chance early in the second stanza. A handball whistled against the Spartans just outside of the box gave Saint Mary's an opportunistic chance in the 49th minute of play. Stackhouse lined up behind the free kick and fired a shot into the upper left corner of the goal for the 2-0 advantage.
Bolstered by the backline efforts of Sydney Skarbek, Emily Mikitka, Lindsey Herdsman, Becca Stella, Holly Skrip, and Molly McCann, the Saint Mary's defense allowed just three shots on goal and nine total shots on the night. Kara Stacey, meanwhile, was up to the task on those three shots on goal as the freshman keeper came up with saves in each opportunity while also cutting off a handful of dangerous crosses in the box to preserve the shutout victory.
Saint Mary's had an 11-9 advantage in shots in the contest over Aurora while also maintaining a 5-2 edge in corner kicks on the night.
The brace gives Stackhouse 26 career goals and moves the senior co-captain into fifth place all-time in program history for goals scored in a career. Sophie Bubnar and Lindsey Adent each collected an assist for the Belles. Kara Stacey, meanwhile, added her second clean sheet in goal.
The Belles (3-0) are back on the pitch on Friday night when they host Goshen at 7:00 p.m.