MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – No. 5 Embry-Riddle defeated No. 21 St. Thomas University 4-1 on Sunday afternoon it what had been dubbed the NAIA Game of the Week. 
 
The Eagles (6-1-0, 2-0-0) have won their last two games, while the Bobcats (4-4-1, 0-2-0) have lost three of their last four contests.
 
Despite not scoring until the 24^th minute, the Eagles dominated the time of possession throughout the first half, outshooting the Bobcats 11-1 in the period.  No Eagle actually scored a goal until the first period was almost over as the team's first score came on a ball that was deflected into the net by a St. Thomas defender off of a cross from ERAU freshman Annie Gelnaw. 
 
The Eagles nearly scored again five minutes later when Dana Robins fired a shot toward the top left corner of the goal from 10 yards out.  But St. Thomas goalie Cristina Garwaki barely deflected the attempt with her right hand.
 
After a flurry attacks, Embry-Riddle got on the board once again in the 39^th minute when freshman Kayla Merkel scored the first goal of her college career, a quick shot from right in front of the goal off of a short pass from Nina Joergensen.  Less than two minutes later, from almost the same exact spot, Joergensen scored her second goal is as many games off of a pretty cross from Julia Karlernas to put the Eagles up 3-0 going into the half. 
 
"Today, we knew this was an important game for our conference play," said ERAU head coach Samantha Bohon.  "After settling down in the first half, we found some rhythm and kept the play in their end.  We needed to be a bit better with our final pass but did a good job of pressuring defensively all over the field.  When Nina came in, she made an instant impact, having a hand in all three goals."
 
The second half of the match brought many of the same storylines as the first.  However, the Eagles found it a bit tougher to find the back of net.  The Blue and Gold had the ball on St. Thomas' side of the pitch for the majority of the second half and outshot their opponent 8-1. 
 
The Bobcats scored on their only shot attempt of the period when Michelle Baily netted a free kick from 25 yards out that floated just over the extended arms of Eagle goalkeeper Olivia Lynch.
 
St. Thomas put some pressure on the Eagles for the next several minutes, getting the ball into the box a handful of times, but showed no results for their efforts as they could not get the ball past the back of the ERAU defense.
 
The Blue and Gold picked it up again offensively in the waning minutes of the game.  After Merkel fired two shots on goal that were saved by Garwaki, Helena Hansson kicked the ball to Isabelle Haaranen who shot it over the goalkeeper's head and into the back of the net to seal the deal and put ERAU up 4-1.
 
"We have good depth this year, and today was a perfect example of this depth paying off," Bohon added.  "Today, we had six new players see good minutes and play a key role in the win.  I was a bit disappointed with the second half as we dropped our level a bit, but we'll keep working on being a 90-minute team.  Overall, it was nice to get a decisive win against a solid St. Thomas team."
 
Sunday's win was the 199^th victory in the history of the Embry-Riddle women's soccer program.  The Eagles will try to reach the 200-win milestone when they take on Ave Maria at home on Thursday.