<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=04LId6_0wD2xFih00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=04LId6_0wD2xFih00" width="942" height="523" ><figcaption>Five-foot-ten Saint Martin’s senior goalkeeper Flavia Burrell stands taller after allowing zero goals in the weekend’s GNAC games against Seattle Pacific and Montana State. She was awarded the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week after her massive efforts in goal.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>After a mixed bag of results, from winning 1-0 against the Central Washington Wildcats to losing a humiliating 7-0 to defending champs Simon Fraser, the Saint Martin's University women's soccer team played at home for the first time this season and held on to two goalless draws in their two home matches, producing 0-0 results over Seattle Pacific Falcons and Montana State Billings last weekend at the SMU Soccer Field.Saints' goalkeeper Flavia Burrell worked overtime between the gates as she produced 21 vital saves over the two matches and was impenetrable in goal en route to the two big points for SMU. Her goalkeeping performances at home inspired a Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Defensive Player of the Week award, which is also the first-ever for the senior goalkeeper.Burrell and the Saints improved to sixth place with five points from one win, two draws, and three defeats in their current GNAC campaign. They will vie to continue this momentum and translate their performances to a win as SMU will face Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, October 17, and Western Oregon on Saturday, October 19. Both games will be held at SMU Soccer Field at 1:00 PM kickoff.Saint Martin's 0, Seattle Pacific 0: A gallant stand against last year's regular season championsThe Saints defended their home turf for the first time this season last Thursday, October 10, against last year's GNAC #1-seed Seattle Pacific Falcons on the back of a 10/10 performance from goalkeeper Flavia Burrell with her ten saves in the match.Helping Burrell in this huge wall is the center-back pairing of Keilee Silva and Payton Aselton, contesting anything that the Falcons would orchestrate before Burrell comes to the rescue as the gatekeeper between the sticks.The Falcons kept the pressure and were relentless in the attack from the first minute, keeping most of the Saints at bay in their own half of the pitch in a low block. The visitors had eight shots in goal in the first half, forcing four saves from Burrell.The second half opened for better opportunities for the Saints in the attack, with attacking duo Inara Lopes De Andrade and Hinata Kojima providing sparks from the bench, but just could not convert with the Falcons defense. The visitors continued with their relentless goal pursuit but failed with the defensive gauntlet Burrell in goal to one of her best performances so far this season.Despite the one-sidedness of the post match stats, it still finished even for both sides. The Falcons outshot the hosts with 18 attempts compared to the Saints' four, and had nine corners, but still shared the points with Burrell and the rest of the Saints.Saint Martin's 0, Montana State Billings 0: She did it again, but better this time!Flavia Burrell supplemented her player-of-the-match performance two days ago with another MVP appearance in goal as she kept another clean sheet on the back of 11 saves against the Montana State Billings last Saturday, October 12.The Saints faced 21 shot attempts from the Yellowjackets with 11 on target, the most they ever allowed at home so far this season, but all were stifled by Burrell's personal record of most saves in a match for the Saints.The hosts were hungrier in goal now compared to the earlier game against the Falcons, with the Saints fired seven shots in goal and 14 attempts in total the whole game. Leading their attacking front was attacking midfielder Ravyn Mummey with six shots and three in goal, although unlucky to not convert their attempts to a goal. Early in the game, Brianna Yamada's aggressive efforts also forced corner kicks until the Yellowjackets took over possessions.But the highlight of the match was another standout performance for Burrell, with 11 saves from 11 shots in goal from MSU-Billings, who had no answer to this defensive unit as they found their shots parried out or went out of target.The back-to-back standout performances from Burrell led to her being awarded later this week with the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week award, her first-ever individual accolade for the Saints. </div></body>

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Burrell, Saints put on defensive masterclass in two goalless draws over the weekend

After a mixed bag of results, from winning 1-0 against the Central Washington Wildcats to losing a humiliating 7-0 to defending champs Simon Fraser, the Saint Martin's University women's soccer team played at home for the first time this season and held on to two goalless draws in their two home matches, producing 0-0 results over Seattle Pacific Falcons and Montana State Billings last weekend at the SMU Soccer Field.