BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS -- Courtney Gamrath (SO, St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville HS) had a goal and an assist for Augsburg College, and Lacey Hoover (JR, Duluth, Minn./Central HS) scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season, but it wasn't enough as St. Olaf College scored a 4-2 victory over the host Auggies in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's soccer game on Wednesday evening at Edor Nelson Field.

Catie Christoffel (SO, Woodbury, Minn.) scored a goal and added two assists, and Lindsay Howard (SO, Minnetonka, Minn.) had a goal and an assist, leading St. Olaf to the victory.

St. Olaf (6-3-0 overall, 3-1-0 MIAC) claimed an early lead in the 14th minute, as Christoffel scored from Christine Barringe (FY, Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe HS), then took a 2-0 lead on Howard's shot in the center from a deep feed by Christoffel in the 62nd minute.

Just 62 seconds later, Augsburg (2-4-3 overall, 0-3-1 MIAC) got on the scoreboard, as Gamrath took a feed from Kelsey Sorensen (FY, Eden Prairie, Minn.) and scored from inside the box for her first goal of the year. Seven minutes later, the Auggies tied the game, as Hoover scored on a long shot from the top left corner of the box, assisted by Gamrath.

But just as quickly as the Auggies tied the game, the Oles took the lead back. Just 1:26 after Hoover's goal, Anna Theis (FY, Jordan, Minn./Prior Lake HS) scored in a scramble off a corner kick. Then in the 77th minute, Ellie Steiner (SO, West Bend, Wis./West Bend East HS) put a one-timer home off a service by Howard for the final goal of the game.

"This loss definitely hurts. After we came from two goals behind in the second half to tie the match in the 70th minute, we failed to clear a ball from a corner kick and found ourselves immediately down 3-2 in the 71st minute," said Augsburg head coach Mike Navarre. "It's another game where corner kicks and shots were pretty even, but we failed in the critical moments of the match."

St. Olaf outshot Augsburg by a 19-13 margin, including a 12-7 advantage in the second half. Diana Bocklund (FY, Mahtomedi, Minn.) collected six saves in goal for the Auggies, while Samantha Sickbert (JR, Woodbury, Minn.) had five saves for the Oles.

Both teams return to MIAC play on Saturday (10/3), as Augsburg hosts St. Catherine at 5:30 p.m., while St. Olaf hosts Gustavus at 1 p.m.

"Everyone is disappointed," Navarre said. "We are used to seeing ourselves near the top of the league, and now we have to face the reality that we are off to a bad start and have to work even harder to accomplish what we all set out to do at the beginning of the season. We are shaken up a little now, but will come back together fast and put out a solid effort on Saturday against St. Catherine."