Photo by Brady Dennis New Ulm’s Marlena Kral kicks the ball by St. Peter’s June Elias (11) during a Big South Conference, Black Division girls soccer game Thursday at New Ulm High School.

By Brady Dennis

sports@nujournal.com

NEW ULM — The New Ulm Eagles defense, along with two well-placed shots from Jes Skoglund, allowed for a 2-0 win over the St. Peter Saints and the first win against St. Peter since 2018 on Thursday in a Big South Conference, Black Division game at New Ulm High School.

With the win, the Eagles (9-3-2, 4-0-2) clinched the Black Division and will face Fairmont in the Big South Conference Championship Game at a date to be determined.

Skoglund had two goals for New Ulm, while Zoey Zins and Yuridia Fernandez each had an assist. Ellie Dake had eight saves for New Ulm in the game.

The Eagles put pressure on St. Peter’s defense early with three shots on goal, with two of them being by Skoglund. The Eagles continued to hold the ball on St. Peter’s side for much of the first half.

“We were first to the ball a lot, and their passing was on,” said Eagles head coach Jonathan Johnson.

The Eagles offense was very successful with setting up scoring opportunities and allowing for many shots on goal.

St. Peter midfielder Liliana Prunty led the Saints’ offense with many shots on goal. In the 28th minute, Prunty had a break-away for a good look at scoring, but Yuridia Fernandez chased her down, adding pressure to help Dake with the save. Despite constant pressure, the Eagles’ defense was able to keep up with St. Peter’s Prunty throughout the entire game. The first half ended with a near goal from St. Peter, which bounced off the crossbar in the 40th minute.

Prunty kept up the pressure into the second half, pushing the ball into New Ulm’s side. It was Zins who made the defensive stop and pushed the ball back the other way. Not long after, Prunty did it again, this time getting a good look at the goal and a well-placed shot, which saved again by Dake.

At halftime, Johnson had some encouragement for his team to close out the game.

“We told them not to be so picky when they’re shooting,” he said. “If you get that opportunity, let one fly.”

Skoglund did just that with a 25-yard shot into the top of the net eight minutes into the half, bringing the Eagles up 1-0.

Another attack from Prunty was stopped by Eagles’ Yessenia Fernandez, Zins passed to Skoglund who tried her best to replicate her last goal and did just that with another long shot from 25 yards into the top right corner of the net, bringing the Eagles up 2-0.

The Eagles defense was able to stop the rest of the attacks from St. Peter, including a stop from Zins. The last close call for New Ulm came in the 78th minute when Dake beat St. Peter’s attacker to the ball with a dive for the last save of the game.