St. Thomas midfielder Sophia Barjesteh battles for the ball at South Field, Thursday Sept. 26, 2024. Barjeste had one shot on goal. (Evan Neubauer/The Crest) 
St. Thomas midfielder Sophia Barjesteh breaks ahead at South Field, Thursday Sept. 26, 2024. Barjesteh played 51 minutes. (Evan Neubauer/The Crest) 
St. Thomas forward Arianna Sanchez searches for an opening at South Field, Thursday Sept. 26, 2024. Sanchez played 19 minutes. (Evan Neubauer/The Crest) 
St. Thomas goalie Olivia Rowe defends the goal at South Field, Thursday Sept. 26, 2024. Rowe had four saves. (Evan Neubauer/The Crest) 
St. Thomas forward Tatum Trettel tracks the ball at South Field, Thursday Sept. 26, 2024. Trettel played 20 minutes. (Evan Neubauer/The Crest)
St. Thomas and the University of South Dakota could not shake the net Thursday afternoon with a 0-0 draw for their first in-conference game of the season, at South Field.
St. Thomas struggled offensively, only recording four shots throughout the entire game. Only one of those shots came in the second half. South Dakota created more chances but was also unsuccessful. The Coyotes doubled the Tommies in shots and shots on goal, tallying 8 and 4, respectively.
“Offensively is where we need to build…We need to see what was working, what wasn’t…We actually had a lot better connections, we just took really bad touches,” head coach Sheila McGill said, “If we take a better touch, or we take a more aggressive first touch, it’s a different game.”
The first chance to open scoring came with only five minutes into the game, when South Dakota junior midfielder Brooklyn Bordson struck a shot into the outside of the net after dribbling through the Tommies’ defense.
The Coyotes then drew a foul that awarded them a free kick just outside the 18-yard box. Sophomore defender Sam Luft was tasked with the shot but squandered the chance with a soft shot that found St. Thomas senior goalkeeper Olivia Rowe.
Rowe added four saves to her 36 total this season, which ranks her second in the Summit League. It was also her fourth shootout, which is tied for first place in the conference.
St. Thomas’ first clear opportunity was a result of a miscue by the South Dakota defense. Junior midfielder Sophia Barjesteh tried from just behind the penalty arc but the shot immediately found a South Dakota boot and was blocked.
Barjesteh started the game and played a total of 56 minutes. She is one of four Tommie players that have started all 10 games this season.
First-year forward Melina Knowles took a chance at the goal close to the 30-minute mark after a pass from senior forward Lexi Huber, but the shot was wide left.
The Tommies ended the half with three shots and only one was within the posts.
“We kind of started out slow. I felt like we were reactive instead of kind of getting after what we needed to do…We just need to work on connecting in our final third,” McGill said.
With only one minute to play in the first half, South Dakota’s Sam Luft had another chance at a free kick. After a strong shot from 25 yards out, the ball met Rowe’s gloves. A few plays later, a Coyotes’ header by sophomore midfielder Mali Van Meeteren sailed high to seal the first half.
The second half had a similar tone. The Tommies recorded only one shot that was on-target and could not find their rhythm on offense to break the tie.
“The way we’re trying to run our attack is we’re trying to get out wide. We’re trying to get crosses in…and sometimes that doesn’t really have that many shots,” senior defender Abby Brantner said, “We want to have more shots, we want to create more opportunities from the center but we have our speed.”
The purple and gray were able to put pressure on the Coyotes’ defense with less than 10 minutes to go. On a hard-fought effort to recover possession, senior defender Lissa Mizutani mustered a shot but was blocked by South Dakota’s sophomore goalie Cambell Fischer.
The Tommies rotated 10 substitutes into the game, with Mizutani logging the most minutes with 71.
“Our philosophy has been you go hard for 20 minutes, you do the work, and then someone else can come on and do it for you,” Brantner said.
St. Thomas finished 2023 with a record 3-7-5 and were ranked 8th out of 9 teams in this year’s preseason coaches poll with 15 first place points.
St. Thomas entered their first conference game with a record of 4-4-1. Their last matchup before South Dakota, was a 5-0 defeat against Marquette.
Huber leads the team with six goals, while teammate junior forward Molly Knoblauch is at the top of the assist leaderboard with three.
Next for St. Thomas is conference foe Oral Roberts. The Tommies host the Golden Eagles Sunday afternoon.
“We’re super excited to get our conference going. Oral Roberts is a team that we compete really well against…We’re really excited to be home, and we’re gonna take it to them the best we can,” Brantner said.
Juan Del Valle can be reached at delv9625@stthomas.edu.