WATERTOWN, Wis. -- The Sabercats began a tough weekend homestand with a 1-0 loss to Finlandia.

Angel Steuerwald and the defense stepped up in the loss, and Laura Brown made 12 saves.

OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 0-1 Finlandia
• Venue: Maranatha Baptist University
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Attendance: 25
• Record: MBU (1-8-1), FINU (5-7-1)

STORY

In their first match of the week, the Sabercats came in with high energy against a skilled Finlandia team. Immediately, they pressured the Lions and forced them to work for any offensive chance. Multiple times in the first half, the Lions pressured but the defense held strong. Angel Steuerwald and Olivia Vander Pluym each completed several takeaways to stop the Finlandia offense in its tracks, leaving the match scoreless at halftime.

That scoreless tie was broken about 20 minutes into the second half when Finlandia's Addie Budzinski passed the ball to Daisia Knowles, who launched a shot from about 18 yards out just over the head of Laura Brown. Finlandia then continued to attack, and just a few minutes later the Lion offense snuck a ball past a diving Brown to a striker in the middle of the box, but Esther Bishop came flying out of nowhere to knock the shot away, keeping the score 1-0. As the half continued, the Sabercat offense started coming to life and made some nice attacks, but time was not on Maranatha's side as Finlandia took the 1-0 victory.

In the loss, the defense continued to improve and made some key stops to shut down the Lions' offense. Brown made several tough saves to keep the game close. Most importantly, the passing on the offensive side gained momentum as the game carried on.

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MBU Starters: 1- L. Brown, 2- Willette, 5- Willette, 6- Warner, 7- Evans (C), 8- Bishop, 11- Torres, 13- Schmidt, 16- Vander Pluym, 19- Steuerwald (C), 20- Hassenplug

STATS

• Shots: Maranatha 2-15 Finlandia
• Shots on Goal: Maranatha 1-13 Finlandia
• Laura Brown: 12 saves
• Last time: Finlandia defeated Maranatha 6-0 in their 2019 matchup
• Series: Maranatha now leads the all-time series against Finlandia 6-2-1

OPPONENTS

• Finlandia competes in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NCAA DIII)
• Finlandia was unable to compete in 2020 due to COVID restrictions

NEXT

The Sabercats conclude the homestand against Great Lakes Christian on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. Details at mbusabercats.com/schedule.