NDSU gather two shots on goal in loss
A strike inside of 10 minutes was enough for the University of Nebraska Omaha to hold off the North Dakota State Bison women’s soccer team 1-0 on Thursday night.
In the eighth minute, Omaha midfielder Jaden Thiem played forward Abby Meader into space in the left side of the box, Meader cut past her defender a slotted the shot home past Bison goalkeeper Monica Polgar at her near post.
It was the first goal of the season for Meader as Thiem moved into a tie for the league lead with four assists.
Omaha then suffocated the Bison offense as NDSU registered two shots on goal in the match and 11 shots in total.
Brooklyn Dew was the only Bison to test UNO goalkeeper Erin Bunker. Both Dew’s fourth minute and 18th minute efforts came from outside the box and were easily gathered by the Omaha senior keeper.
Bunker could have taken the rest of the night off, as the rest of the Bison’s effort failed to hit the target. NDSU earned just two corner kicks in the match. The only highlight of note for the rest of the match for Bunker was coming out to punch away a second-half free kick.
Despite shutting down their opposition, the Mavericks failed to add to their lead.
UNO had three prime chances to double their lead. In the 58th minute, Bailey Cascio rose up to meet a cross with her head and directed it goalward. Polgar came across was able to reach the looping header.
Maverick freshman Laurin Mertz had a couple of chances in the final 15 minutes to ice the game. In the 79th minute, speedy forward streaked down the right flank behind the Bison defense. However, her penultimate touch was long, leaving the angle to the goal against her. The scuffed shot was initially bobbled then controlled by Polgar.
Four minutes from full time, Mertz pinched the ball off a Bison defender and was in on Polgar. Again though, the shot from a sharp angle was off little worry, rolling wide to the right.
For the Bison, both Dew and Elyse Huber registered three shots. Polgar tallied four saves in the match.
The results sent both teams to 1-1 in Summit League play with NDSU moving to 6-5-1 and UNO moving to 4-7-1 overall.
NDSU has now lost four of their last five road matches, the only win in that span coming against Eastern Washington. The Bison continued Summit League play Sunday at Oral Roberts. NDSU returns home next weekend for a Friday night match against Fort Wayne and a Sunday matinee against Western Illinois.