Central women settle for soccer draw with St. Benedict

PELLA — The Central College women’s soccer team ended its match against the College of St. Benedict (Minn.) in a scoreless draw after 110 minutes of play on the pitch Sunday afternoon.

The Dutch (5-1-1) outshot the Bennies (2-3-2) by a 24-13 margin but could not the find the back of the net.

“St. Benedict is a really good team, from a good league,” coach Mike Kobylinski said. “But we also think we are really good team from a really good league and that’s what played out today.”

Goalkeeper Jasmyn Bush (sophomore, La Porte City, Union HS) withstood a barrage of shots, including three saves in the second overtime period. Kobylinski was also complimentary of the starting backline of Sydney Canney (senior, Adel, ADM HS), Bridget Lynch (junior, Northglenn, Colo., Jefferson Academy), Alyssa Knuth (junior, St. Joseph, Mich., Benton Harbor HS) and Maddi Fisher (sophomore, Marion, Linn-Mar HS).

“Overall, our team defense was good, but I think the backline was super solid,” Kobylinski said. “I thought Jasmyn was tremendous as well.”

Canney and Lynch also serve as team captains.

“Their leadership today was awesome,” Kobylinski said.

Grace Coates (freshman, forward, Marion) had six shot attempts and midfielders Kaitlyn Isom (sophomore, Phoenix, Ariz., Horizon Honors Academy) and Elena Pinto (freshman, midfielder, Kent, Wash., Federal Way HS) each had four. Pinto put three of her four on frame.

“Their keeper made a few great saves, especially in the second half,” Kobylinski said. “I think we can be a little more clinical but we’re a really young team that still has some learning to do.

The Dutch go to St. Paul, Minnesota for a match against St. Catherine University Tuesday at 4 p.m.