Women's Soccer 9/27/06 -- Macalester 1, Augsburg 0

BOXSCORE

ST. PAUL, Minn. (9/27/06) -- Augsburg College and Macalester College played an even contest for 89 minutes and 55 seconds in theirMinnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's soccer battle Wednesday night at Macalester Stadium.

But in the closing seconds, the Scots took advantage of a misdirected touch by the Auggies and scored a goal with five seconds remaining, the only goal in a 1-0 Macalester win.

Following the steal, Rose Betzler (Fr., Northfield, Minn.) scored on a pass from Annie Borton (Sr., Berkeley, Calif.) -- just the third goal given up by the Auggies in nine games this season.

"It was a great soccer game between two of the best teams in the region," said Augsburg coach Mike Navarre of the game between the Scots, ranked No. 14 in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division III national rankings and No. 2 in the Central Region rankings, and the Auggies, ranked No. 9 in the region.

For most of the game, the teams played even soccer, with each team receiving several solid chances to score. Macalester outshot Augsburg by a 21-13 margin, but both teams were more even with shots on goal, with Macalester claiming seven to Augsburg's six.

Augsburg dropped to 6-2-1 overall, 3-1-0 in MIAC play, while Macalester improved to 6-0-3 overall, 3-0-1 in MIAC play.

"We did not manage the final seconds of the game very well. The team is not heartbroken, we are angry because we truly let this game out of our hands," Navarre said. "However, we have to acknowlege Macalester, they took advantage of a misdirected touch in the back in the final seconds and got behind our defense. We played great soccer and could have won, but it was Macalester who was able to beat the game itself and ultimately keep their amazing conference unbeaten streak alive. We look forward to next time."

The win improved the Scots' unbeaten streak to 36 games (30-0-6), including 29 straight regular-season games in MIAC play (26-0-3) and 34 straight games against MIAC foes, including playoffs (30-0-4).

Augsburg goalkeeper Maggie DeGroot (So., Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha West HS) claimed six saves in goal, while Macalester goalkeeper Jenny Lee (So., Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS) made seven saves.

Kelsey Watsabaugh (So., Eden Prairie, Minn./Hopkins HS) had four shots for the Auggies, while Lizzie Broin (Fr., Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins HS) had three shots.

Augsburg returns to action on Saturday (9/30) at 1 p.m. with an MIAC game at St. Catherine. Macalester returns to MIAC play on Friday (9/29) at 4 p.m. with a game at Bethel.