This was one of the best seasons in recent Bison soccer history. The Bison put the Summit League on notice, winning the regular-season title with a 6-1-1 conference record. The Bison were to take on the winner of Denver and Oral Roberts for a chance to play in the Summit League championship. Oral Roberts defeated Denver to advance to the semifinals at Dacotah Field on Thursday, Nov. 7th. 

Coming into this matchup, the Bison came off some amazing news: Morgan Russman won the Offensive Players of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. Truly one of the greatest seasons in Bison soccer history. Goalie Payton Mulberry also won goalkeeper of the year. Head coach Mike Regon won Summit League Coach of the Year to cap all of this off. Some amazing honors to cap off a great regular season. That wasn’t the end goal for this team. They were looking for a Summit League championship. 

This match was like most of the matches NDSU played in this season. Low scoring. It was 0-0 through all of regulation and was a very uneventful match. The Bison outshot Oral Roberts 15-6 but were just unable to break through. The end result was an Oral Roberts victory due to penalties. Payton Mulberry gave the Herd six shutouts to close out her sophomore season. A very dramatic and sad way to end a very good season for the Bison, but there is a lot to look forward to. 

The Bison will retain Payton Mulberry and Morgan Russman next season (and possibly the season after) for the 2025 season as they are both underclassmen still. It was a season with lower expectations and look what came of it. This team went 10-5-4 overall and gave the Bison their first Summit League title since 2016. Another note is that the Bison will enter next season with a regular season home-game win streak of five games. Bison soccer fans, keep your heads up. They will be back and ready to go in 2025.