Ottawa, Kan.— The University of Saint Mary held the No. 16 Ottawa University Braves scoreless through the first half, but two goals in a span of 3 minutes, 33 seconds sent the Braves to a 2-0 victory this evening at Dick Peters Sports Complex in Ottawa, Kansas. Kindt scored the decisive goal in the 58th minute before Scott doubled the lead in the 62nd minute of the KCAC opener.

Spire goalkeeper Xavier Ezell kept the match level with six saves in the opening half. His final stop before halftime came at 40:51, when he denied Mazieres' low attempt toward the center of the goal. The Spires also generated five first-half shots, including their best opportunity at 19:02. Aaron Jackson directed an attempt toward the bottom center, but Ottawa goalkeeper Neri made the save.

The Spires continued to press after halftime. Matias Allou sent a shot over the goal at 46:22, and Rylan Nowak followed with another attempt at 55:35. Nowak finished with a team-high three shots as Saint Mary tried to break through against the Ottawa defense.

Ottawa broke the tie at 57:42 when Lopez-Arteaga delivered a cross from the left side. Kindt settled the ball and finished at the near post for the game-winning goal. At 61:15, Mazieres supplied another cross from the left, and Scott converted at the near post to make it 2-0. USM earned its only corner kick just over a minute later, and Damon Walter sent a shot over the goal at 63:16 during the response.

Ezell finished with eight saves in 90 minutes, including a stop on Lopez-Arteaga's bottom-left attempt at 86:28. Saint Mary totaled eight shots but put one on goal, while Ottawa finished with advantages of 16-8 in shots, 10-1 in shots on goal and 9-1 in corner kicks. The Spires moved to 0-1 in the KCAC, while Ottawa improved to 1-0 in conference play.
 
Coming Up…

The Spires hit the road this weekend to continue KCAC action as they face the Tabor College Bluejays at Joel H. Wiens Stadium in Hillsboro, Kansas with kick-off set for 3:30 p.m.