The Herd walked away with a solid 2-1 dub last Sunday
The North Dakota State Women’s Soccer left as victors, as they defeat the South Dakota Coyotes 2-1 last Sunday at Dacotah Field.
It was an exciting first half of Sunday’s game, as all the scoring was done in the first half. The Herd jumped on the Coyotes early as freshman Lavin Douglass netted an unassisted goal in the 11th minute.
A little while later, senior Mariah Haberle would sneak one past the Coyotes of a quick pass by Elyse Huber, giving the Bison a 2-0 lead deep in the first half. With all the momentum shifting towards NDSU, the Coyotes knew they had to react.
In the 35th minute, South Dakota’s Kellee Willer received a pass from the right side by fellow teammate Tiannah Moore, Willer buried it cutting the lead in half. But that would be the last goal scored by either squad the rest of the afternoon.
South Dakota goalkeeper, Emma Harkleroad, was getting quite the action as NDSU dominated the first half with 18 shots compared to USD’s mere three shots. Harkleroad would end her afternoon with two goals allowed and seven saves, before freshman Bella Alessio would finish the game with three saves, the final shot total for the game would be 21-14 with NDSU leading the shots.
The Herd also lead in fouls, as the Bison absorbed ten fouls throughout the match. South Dakota would only accumulate eight, including Grace Mancy receiving a yellow card in the 38 minute. NDSU’s Mariah Haberle would be the leading shot taker for the Herd with five shots, in addition to tagging one on the scoreboard.
After a masterful performance on Sunday, Haberle would be elected as one of NDSU’s Student Athletes of the Week. Bison goalkeeper, Monica Polgar also had a good afternoon, only allowing one goal and having four saves.
The Herd is third in the Summit League standings with one conference win, only trailing behind SDSU (9-3, 1-0 conference) and Western Illinois (6-5-1, 2-0 conference). The Bison women will travel to Nebraska to play Omaha (3-7-1, 0-1 conference) on Thursday, and will make the trek to play Oral Roberts (3-6-2, 0-0-1 conference) on Sunday.