ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Saint Leo University women's soccer team closed out its 2024 Sunshine State Conference schedule at Eckerd on Wednesday evening in St. Petersburg. Thanks to a pair of goals including a goal in the 88th minute off the foot of Franziska Theus the Lions left St. Petersburg with a 2-1 victory. The Lions picked up three crucial points in the SSC standings to finish the season with 15 points. The Lions improve their to overall record to 8-4-4 and 4-3-3 in SSC action.

Goetzer made seven saves on the night and conceded just her fourth goal in the last seven contests. The Lions recorded 10 shots on the night as half were on target. Theus and Ella Owen led the team with a pair of shots each. Six additional Lions also added a shot in the victory, including the first goal scorer Mina Haggstrom.  

SAINT LEO 2, ECKERD 1

• The teams came out hot as each team registered a shot in the first six minutes. Goetzer made her first save of the night in the fifth minute with a shot to the bottom of the middle of the goal.
• The Lions quickly raced their attack to the opposite end of the field. Mina Haggstrom got the Green and Gold on the board in the sixth minute with a shot through the top left of the goal, her second goal of the season.
• Eckerd responded quickly with a shot attempt after the Lions opened the scoring on a shot that was saved by Goetzer.
• Owen was called for a foul in the box right around the half hour mark giving the Tritons a chance to find the equalizer in the first half. Goetzer made the right move on the shot to keep the Tritons off the board.
• Freshman Tiana Mainella closed out the first 45 minutes with a shot to the bottom left of the box that found the Eckerd keeper who made the stop.
• In the 64th minute, the Tritons were once again awarded a penalty kick compliments of a foul in the box committed by Mainella. The home team did not squander its second PK chance and found the equalizer on an elevated ball to the top right.  
• Goetzer was forced to make a pair of stops in the final 11 minutes to bring her total to seven on the night.
• With under three minutes to play, Theus fired off her second shot of the night and slipped a ball past the Eckerd keeper to the top left of the goal for what proved to be the game winning score.

  
UP NEXT
Saint Leo closes out the regular season with a non-conference road contest at Lynn this Friday, November 8. Kick off in Boca Raton is scheduled for 4 p.m.