Game Summary
LISLE, Ill. — After nearly two weeks and five games, the Saint Mary's University women's soccer road show came to a close Sunday afternoon.
And the Cardinals' hosts couldn't be happier.
SMU, behind the foot, rather than the hands, of goalkeeper-turned-forward of
Jennifer Johnson (Racine, Wis.), pushed its season-opening winning streak to five with a 1-0 win over Benedictine.
Johnson, who teamed with Melissa Paulson (Ham Lake, Minn.) to post the three-save shutout, opened Sunday's game in goal, but — with the score knotted at 0-0 — was moved to forward late in the game in hopes of providing the SMU offense with a much-needed spark.
And spark she did, as the SMU junior was on the finishing end of a tic-tac-toe passing play with
Louise Irvine (Belfast, Northern Ireland) and
Emily Berg (Owatonna, Minn.), netting her first goal of the season with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation.
"It was just one of those situations where, we were dominating play offensively, but we couldn't but the ball in the net," said SMU coach Tony Guinn, whose team outshot Benedictine 25-3. "We needed a goal and Jennifer is one of our best all-around athletes, so I figured maybe she could give us the boost we needed.
"Fortunately, (Johnson) made me look like a genius."
The Cardinals, 5-0-0 for the first time since starting the 1999 season 7-0-0, finally return home on Tuesday, when they open Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play against Hamline.
"It's nice to finally get to play a home game," Guinn said. "Hopefully we'll be able to pack the stands with fans — I know everyone on this team is excited about showing Cardinal fans what they've been missing these first two weeks."
