ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — When Eric Zimmerman watched Macalester's Emily Bardwell rifle a shot past SMU goalkeeper
Mariana Sanchez (Puebla, Mexico) to lift the Scots to a 2-1 overtime victory on Sept. 22, the Saint Mary's University women's soccer coach didn't think he could feel any worse.
He was wrong.
Saturday afternoon, Zimmerman experienced to Macalester heartbreak times two, as Saint Benedict's Olivia Wee scored the game's only goal with less than two minutes remaining in the second overtime, lifting the Blazers to a 1-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over the Cardinals.
“My heart can't take much more of this,” said Zimmerman. “I thought losing that Macalester game was tough, but this was even tougher. We played so well — probably our best all-around performance of the season, but have nothing to show for it.
“You can always find the silver linings when you play like we did today — but these ladies deserved a better end result.”
Heading into Saturday's contest, Zimmerman had stressed that the Cardinals' needed to do a better job of not only creating scoring opportunities, but also making the most of those chances by hitting the net with their shots.
Unfortunately, the Cardinals took their head coach literally, clanging four shots off either the posts or the crossbar, including a second-half shot by Amanda Rahman (Rochester, Minn.) that hit the crossbar and deflected straight down to the goal line before it was cleared away.
“We did everything but put the ball in the net,” said Zimmerman, whose team finished with five shots on goal — and those four that rattled off the posts — while Sanchez stopped nine of the 10 Blazer shots she faced. “We just couldn't seem to catch a break. To have four shots go off the post and crossbar, that's tough to take.”
So was the heartbreaking, double-overtime loss.
“This one is tough,” said Zimmerman, whose team is back in action Sunday, traveling to UW-Platteville for a 1 p.m. nonconference contest against the Pioneers. “This team played so hard, they left it all on the field, and to lose like that, it just breaks your heart.”
