MINNEAPOLIS -- Two goals in the first 9:41 of play gave the Augsburg College women's soccer team an early cushion, one it used for success in a 3-1 victory over St. Catherine University in a battle of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contenders on Thursday evening at Edor Nelson Field.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 3, St. Catherine 1
LOCATION: Edor Nelson Field, Minneapolis
RECORDS: Augsburg 13-2-0 overall (7-1-0 MIAC), St. Catherine 9-4-1 overall (4-3-1 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Auggies attacked St. Catherine early and often, outshooting the Wildcats by a 20-7 margin in the first half, scoring three goals. But St. Catherine was resilient and had several attacks of its own, outshooting Augsburg by an 8-7 margin in the second half.
• Augsburg's defensive foursome of Emily Gregg (SR, River Falls, Wis.) Hannah Whitington (SR, Eagle Lake, Minn./Mankato East HS), Ashley Waalen (SR, Amery, Wis.) and Trine Boeystad (FY, Rykkinn, Norway/Nadderud VGS) was strong again. All four played the full 90 minutes and provided solid support for goalkeeper Marissa Guillou (JR, Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley HS), who came up with four saves in the victory.
• Ciara Gregory (FY, Cottage Grove, Minn./Park HS) gave the Auggies a 1-0 lead at the 5:10 mark, taking a sharp feed from the right side by Brigette Jira (SO, Fort Atkinson, Wis.) off her chest and into the net. Gregg put home a corner kick by Nora Edelen (SO, Middleton, Wis.) at the 9:41 mark to give the Auggies a 2-0 lead.
• After St. Catherine cut the lead to 2-1 in the 26th minute, the Auggies gained the two-goal lead again at the 30:01 mark, when Ashley St. Aubin (FY, Burnsville, Minn.) scored her Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference-leading 13th goal of the season, finishing in front off a feed from the right side by Jira.
• St. Aubin had nine shots, including four on goal, to lead the Auggies. Gregory and Carter Denison (SR, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) had four shots each, and Boeystad and Gregg had three shots each.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Thursday's game was a battle of the top two scorers in MIAC women's soccer. St. Aubin maintains her lead in both goals (13) and points (31), while St. Catherine's Hannah Okerstrom now has 12 goals and 28 points, both second among conference players.
• Augsburg has now outscored its opponents by a 41-5 margin this season, the 41 goals most among MIAC teams by a margin of seven goals. Augsburg's five goals allowed and 0.33 team goals-against-average are both second-best among MIAC teams.

FOR THE FOES
• Okerstrom scored an unassisted goal for St. Catherine at the 25:18 mark on a blast from just inside the penalty box. She had five shots in the game for the Wildcats.
• Shelby Fehringer had three saves in goal in the first half, with Tayler Koop collecting two saves in the second half.

QUOTE FROM AUGSBURG HEAD COACH MIKE NAVARRE:
• "We thought it was going to be an exciting game, and it certainly was. Our first half was outstanding. We weren't able to match that quality in the second half, but nevertheless stayed strong defensively and still created some good opportunities. St. Catherine is a quality team and they will surely be in the postseason mix. Now, we have to recover quickly, as we have another difficult game Saturday against Macalester."

UP NEXT
• Augsburg hosts Macalester on Saturday (10/22) at 5 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field.
• St. Catherine hosts Gustavus on Saturday at 1 p.m.