The 2007 edition of the Saint Mary’s soccer team overcame a slew of injuries to post their fourth winning season in the last five years.
During the first half of September the Belles posted tournament titles at the Case Western and North Central Invitationals. Through the first 10 games of the season the Belles had just one loss in posting a 5-1-4 record at the end of September with their only loss a non-MIAA game against Hope. In addition, the Saint Mary’s defense was stout as they recorded six shutouts during those contests.
Once the calendar turned the October the Belles found themselves on the wrong side of scoreboard in games that were decided by two or fewer goals. With a 1-0-2 MIAA mark heading into a home contest with Hope, the Flying Dutch handed Saint Mary’s a 3-1 setback but a victory over Adrian three days later on Oct. 9 in the final home game of the year gave Saint Mary’s a 2-1-2 league record and a 6-2-4 mark overall.
After dropping a tight contest to nationally ranked Calvin on Oct. 13 the Belles posted their final win of the season with an 8-2 victory over Tri-State were both Lauren Hinton and Katie Durkin scored three goals.
The final two games of the regular season saw the Belles play to a 1-1 draw in a non-conference match against Illinois Wesleyan before dropping a 3-2 contest against Alma.
Unfortunately the third time was not a charm for Saint Mary’s against Hope in the first-round of the MIAA Tournament as they fifth seeded Belles lost 1-0 to the Flying Dutch.
Through out the season the Belles were hampered by injuries as a handful of players including Hinton, Micki Hedinger and, Colleen Ferguson were forced to watch from the sidelines due to a variety of ailments.
Hinton led the squad in scoring by posting seven goals despite missing four games. Durkin had a stellar second year under head coach Caryn Mackenzie by scoring five goals. Katie Wehrli and Julia Gragtmans each tallied solid stats as well by scoring three goals and assisting on four others a piece to help pace the Belles offense.
