LOS ANGELES, Calif. — In their second week of conference play, Saint Mary's came away with a 1-0 win in their meeting with LMU. The win pushes the Gaels unbeaten streak to eight games and brings their overall record to 7-1-2 and 2-0-1 in WCC play.
The action was back and forth, but the Gaels put pressure on throughout the 90 minutes outshooting the Lions 26-7. Of these shots, eight were on target and five came from the Gaels' leading goal scorer
Sydney Middaugh who kept the LMU defense on their heels all night. It wasn't until the 58th minute did Saint Mary's get on the scoreboard when freshman forward
Ashlyn Vaughn fired a cross shot into the top left corner of the net for her third goal of the season. Backing the goal, the Gaels defense and goalkeeper
Kate Plachy, who had two saves on the night, held strong to preserve the road win and their seventh shutout of the season.
FIRST HALF SMC 0-0 LMU
The Gaels were fired up early, racking up 17 shots in the first 45 minutes of play. Several of those opportunities came dangerously close to breaking the tie, including a long range shot from the right side by Middaugh that forced LMU's goalkeeper to make a leaping save. Despite the relentless attack, the Lions backline and goalkeeper turned away every chance to keep the game scoreless going into halftime.
FINAL SMC 1-0 LMU
After 17 first half shots, the Gaels finally broke through in the 58th minute when Vaughn converted the chance from the right side, lifting her shot into the upper corner for what proved to be the lone goal of the match. The strike capped off Saint Mary's persistent attack and gave them the edge they had been fighting for all night.
From there, the Gaels defense held firm, limiting the Lions to only three shots in the second half of play. The starting backline anchored the effort, with
Amari Hicks,
Molly Silva,
Madison Casado, and
Aleiyah Schexnayder going the full 90 minutes. Goalkeeper
Kate Plachy preserved yet another shutout, which gives her seven on the season and ties her for fifth most in single season program history for Saint Mary's. On top of that, the sophomore goalkeeper is also tied for fifth all-time in Gaels' program history with 13 career shutouts.
LOOKING AHEAD
With the victory, the Gaels keep up their strong start to WCC play and will look to carry their momentum into a two game week as they host Washington State on Wednesday, October 8th at 4:00 PM. Following the home game, Saint Mary's will travel to face Seattle U on Saturday the 11th at 6:00 PM. Both games will be available to stream on ESPN+.
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
#GaelsRise
