MINNEAPOLIS -- Behind a goal in the 39th minute from conference scoring co-leader Ashley St. Aubin (SR, Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville HS) and one of its best defensive efforts of the season, the Augsburg University women's soccer team expanded its lead in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference race to four points with a 1-0 home victory over the College of Saint Benedict on Tuesday evening.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 1, Saint Benedict 0
LOCATION: Edor Nelson Field, Minneapolis
RECORDS: Augsburg 10-2-1 overall (6-0-1 MIAC), Saint Benedict 7-3-2 overall (4-1-1 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• In the closing minutes of the first half, Gabriela Encarnacion (SR, Bel Air, Md./Bel Air HS) drove the ball down the right wing from midfield and fed the ball to Megan Howard (FY, Lakeland, Minn./Stillwater HS) deep on her right flank. Near the end line, Howard served the ball perfectly to the center of the penalty box, where St. Aubin one-timed it with her right foot into the low right corner of the net for her 13th goal of the season.
• The Auggies played a strong 4-5-1 defense in the second half, protecting the net and allowing few solid scoring opportunities for the Bennies. Augsburg held a 56-to-44 percent advantage in possession in the game. The defensive backfield of Claire Popp (JR, New Berlin, Wis./New Berlin Eisenhower HS), Molly Conners (SO, Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS), Jen Masello (SO, Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South HS), Rachel Montgomery (FY, Cottage Grove, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran HS) and Jada Olson (SR, Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) each played all 90 minutes in the game in delivering Augsburg's seventh shutout victory of the season.
• Goalkeeper Emily Chapman (SR, Elburn, Ill./Kaneland HS) had eight saves in goal, five in the first half and three in the second half, to improve to 10-2-1 on the season with her fifth shutout of the year and 19th of her career.
• Augsburg outshot Saint Benedict by a 17-14 margin in the game.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Augsburg expanded its lead in the MIAC standings to four points. The Auggies have 19 points, four ahead of second-place St. Catherine with 15. Carleton is in third with 13 points, with Saint Benedict, St. Thomas and St. Olaf tied for fourth with 13 points and Bethel in seventh with 12 points in pursuit of spots in the six-team MIAC postseason playoffs. Augsburg has now beaten St. Catherine, Saint Benedict and St. Thomas, while it tied St. Olaf and will play Bethel and Carleton in its next two games.
• Augsburg's career scoring leader, St. Aubin now has 66 career goals and 157 career points (25 assists) in 75 games. St. Aubin has scored at least one goal in 51 games in her career, and the Auggies are now 46-4-1 when she scores a goal. Among MIAC players in overall statistics, St. Aubin is now tied for the lead in both goals (13) and points (29).
• St. Aubin is now tied with Julie Giebe of Saint Mary's (1993-97) for second place on the MIAC record list for career goals (all games) in women's soccer with 66, and is now three goals from tying the league record of 69, set by Macalester's Jenny Scanlon (1991-94). The MIAC's women's soccer career points record is 173 (62 goals, 49 assists), held by Heidi Campbell of Saint Mary's (1984-87); St. Aubin's 157 points are third-most in conference history.

FOR THE FOES
• Kendall Koenen had one save in goal for Saint Benedict.
• Megan Thompson had five shots for the Bennies, while Mara Flaherty had three shots and Rosie McGinty had two shots.

QUOTE FROM AUGSBURG COACH MIKE NAVARRE
• "I thought tonight was a great game between two strong teams. Our possession was solid in the first half for the most part, but we had trouble creating quality chances. Fortunately, Gabby found Megan in some space on the right flank and Ashley did very well to finish a great cross from Megan. Defensively our back line and Chap were solid tonight. Overall, it was a good performance. Saturday's game will be another tough one, as Bethel is a quality opponent."

UP NEXT
• Augsburg travels to face Bethel on Saturday (10/19) at 3:30 p.m.
• Saint Benedict hosts St. Olaf on Sunday (10/20) at 3:30 p.m.