MINNEAPOLIS -- Scoring four goals in the first half-hour of play, the Augsburg University women's soccer team claimed an important 4-2 victory over No. 19-ranked Loras College on Sunday morning at Edor Nelson Field.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 4, Loras (Iowa) 2
LOCATION: Edor Nelson Field, Minneapolis
RECORDS: Augsburg 4-1-0 overall, Loras 5-2-0 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Ashley St. Aubin (SR, Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville HS) scored two goals with an assist to lead the Auggies, while Gabriela Encarnacion (SR, Bel Air, Md./Bel Air HS) and Niki Ryan (JR, Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS) had a goal and assist each for the Auggies.
• St. Aubin opened the scoring with a goal in the 16th minute, taking a feed from Molly Conners (SO, Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS), popping the ball over a Loras defender's head and firing a shot from 25 yards out to the lower left corner of the goal.
• Seven minutes later, Encarnacion scored her second goal of the season. St. Aubin sliced a pass between two defenders to a sprinting Encarnacion, who put the ball home over the goalkeeper.
• Ryan gave the Auggies a 3-0 lead at the 27:39 mark, as she scored on a point-blank rebound off an initial shot by Encarnacion. Three minutes later, St. Aubin scored her second goal of the game. Ryan slid the ball from the center to St. Aubin on the left side, and St. Aubin eluded a defender and deposited the ball to the low left corner.
• The game was nearly even in most statistical categories. Both teams had 21 shots in the game, with Loras recording 15 shots on-goal to Augsburg's 11. Augsburg had six corner kicks to Loras' four, and Loras held possession for 51 percent of the game, compared to 49 percent for the Auggies.
• St. Aubin had eight shots in the game, while Encarnacion had four shots. Megan Howard (FY, Lakeland, Minn./Stillwater HS) had three shots.
• Emily Chapman (SR, Elburn, Ill./Kaneland HS) had a career-high 13 saves in goal for the Auggies.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• St. Aubin extended her goal-scoring streak to seven straight games, dating to last season. She now has nine goals and three assists for 21 points in the stretch, including six goals and an assist for 13 points this season. Among MIAC players in overall statistics, St. Aubin now stands tied for fourth in goals and tied for fifth in assists.
• The two-goal effort marks St. Aubin's 14th career multi-goal game, with Augsburg winning all 14 contests. Augsburg's career scoring leader, St. Aubin now has 59 career goals and 141 career points (23 assists) in 66 games. St. Aubin has scored at least one goal in 44 games in her career, and the Auggies are now 40-3-1 when she scores a goal.

QUOTES FROM AUGSBURG HEAD COACH MIKE NAVARRE
• "I was proud of our performance today. The players responded well to the challenge and demonstrated improvement in some key areas that needed to be better. Loras is a tough team to play, and I thought we dealt with their direct attacking style effectively for the most part. It was great to see our energy and commitment today. Now obviously, the challenge is to keep getting better."

FOR THE FOES
• Loras scored in the 42nd minute, when Brynn Jacobi scored on a rebound in front following a shot on a free kick from 30 yards out by Taylor Trovato. Gabby Junod scored with 28 seconds left in the game on a high arcing shot over Chapman from 40 yards out.
• Michelle Loyo had seven saves in goal for the Duhawks, ranked No. 19 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Association Division III national poll and No. 2 in the organization's North Region ranking.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg hosts Northwestern-St. Paul in a nonconference game on Friday (9/20) at 7 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field.