WINONA, Minn. — Anyone who follows Saint Mary's University women's soccer knows that when it comes to scoring goals,
Amy Sibik (Onalaska, Wis.) is the Cardinals' go-to-player.
But with the Cardinals in the midst of a 0-0 deadlock against UW-River Falls — and Sibik silenced by the Falcons' stifling defense — coach Eric Zimmerman needed someone to step up.
Marnocha did her best Sibik impersonation midway through the second half, netting the game's only goal in lifting SMU to a 1-0 nonconference victory over the visiting Falcons at Ochrymowycz Field.
“This was a nice win for us,” said Zimmerman, whose team collected its second straight win. “We came out a little slow, but once we got into our rhythm a bit, I thought we ran circles around them.
“I thought we created a lot of good scoring chances, we just weren't able to cash in on any of them until Stephanie came through for us in the second half.”
Marnocha, who had scored just one goal in her first three years as a Cardinal, put an end to the 0-0 stalemate in the game's 60th minute, as the Cardinal senior took a pass from Caitlin Cole (Larsen, Wis.) and launched a shot over the outstretched arms of UW-River Falls goalkeeper Rachel Thompson for the game's only goal.
“We don't usually look to Stephanie for goal scoring, she's more the player we rely on to dish the ball off,” explained Zimmerman. “But we needed her to come through today and she really did — I'm sure she liked trading roles for a change.”
While Marnocha was providing the offense, Mariana Sanchez (Puebla, Mexico) was providing the defense, as the senior goalkeeper stopped all five shots she faced — including a point-blank try by the Falcons' Carlin Bunting in the game's final two minutes — en route to her fifth shutout of the season.
“I'm very happy with the way we played today,” said Zimmerman, whose Cardinals (7-4-1 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play Tuesday at St. Olaf. “River Falls is a very solid team and I thought we did a nice job against them.
“Hopefully these last two games will give us the momentum we need heading back into conference play.”
