Hornets Extend Winning Streak to Three Games; Topple MIAA 3rd-ranked St. Mary's with 1-0 Shutout on the Road October 4, 2005

The Kalamazoo College women's soccer team scored just 3 minutes into the game at Saint Mary's College on Tuesday, and held the lead for the next 87 minutes to topple the MIAA 3rd-ranked Belles and earn its third straight shutout win in a row. With the win, the Hornets improve to 5-4-1 overall in 2005 (4-3 MIAA), while knocking Saint Mary's down to 6-5-0 overall (5-3 MIAA). Kalamazoo will face up next against Albion College (coached by former Hornet player Lisa Roschek K'97) at home on Saturday 10/8--Homecoming at K College--in both teams' final game of the first round of MIAA play.

Against Saint Mary's, Hornet freshman forward Sarah Arnosky scored her third goal in as many games--this time, in just the 4th minute of play. She received a through pass behind the Belles' defensive line from junior defender Jenn Russart, and used her speed to blow past her opponents. As she entered the 18-yard-box with the ball, the Saint Mary's goalkeeper came off her line and attempted to cut down Arnosky's angle, but Arnosky calmly placed a low shot into the far corner of the goal and the Hornets went up 1-0.

Stunned, Saint Mary's seemed to fall apart during the middle section of the first half, and the Hornets took control of the game's possession in the midfield. For a long stretch of time, the Belles' defense was extremely low-pressure in the middle of the field, and Kalamazoo's central midfielders found themselves with a lot of time and space to advance the ball and then play passes behind the defense for the Hornet forwards. This created a lot of scoring opportunities, and the Hornets posted 6 first-half shots against a team that hadn't lost at home once in 2005. It actually appeared as though Kalamazoo had earned its second goal of the game about 15 minutes after Arnosky's, when sophomore forward Aliza Caplan worked her way behind Saint Mary's defensive line to the left corner of the field and then carried the ball into the 18-yard-box along the Belle's goal line. She intelligently played a slotted pass toward the far post, about 10 yards out, for onrushing freshman center mid Kelly Lepper. As the Belles' goalkeeper scrambled to get to the far post and cover the wide-open goal, Lepper hit a low, driven shot that seemed destined to hit the back corner of the goal netting. Instead, it barely ticked off the inside of the goalpost and rebounded out of harm's way to a Saint Mary's defender. In the final minutes of the first half, Saint Mary's finally began to compose itself and mounted a few legitimate attacks in Kalamazoo's end of the field. Hornet goalkeeper Monisha Berkowski made 3 easy saves late in the first half as the Belles launched a few long-range shots from about 30-35 yards out.

At halftime, both teams regrouped and it was immediately obvious in the early minutes of the second half that the game's intensity was escalating. With Saint Mary's in a position where it was desperate to earn an equalizer, and with Kalamazoo's stingy defense dead-set on maintaining its shutout, the play became extremely physical. The two teams committed 9 fouls apiece for the game, and each team had a player receive a yellow-card in the second half for rough play.

Saint Mary's had two great scoring opportunities late in the game--one when their star forward broke free inside the 18 and fired her shot just high of the goal, and another chance a few minutes later when one of the Belles' midfielders fired a far-post shot from an extremely tough angle. The second shot was on its way under the crossbar and into the side-netting when Berkowski dove to her right, completely outstretched, and parried the ball wide of the goal with just her fingertips.

"Mo's save was one of the best I have ever seen," said Hornet Head Coach Laura Passage. "She's so incredibly focused, and her timing is flawless. She simply won't let herself get beaten. Nobody out there today could argue the fact that she's the best keeper in the MIAA."

For the day, Saint Mary's held a 14-10 advantage in the shots category, although the two teams were dead even in the shots-on-goal category with 7 apiece. Berkowski posted 6 saves during the game en route to her third straight shutout (fifth shutout of 2005).