Beavers Earn First-Ever Win over Minnesota-Duluth

DULUTH, Minn. - Sophomore Katie Meinardt (Maple Grove, Minn.) showed why she was tabbed a 2004 NSIC Player to Watch this afternoon, as Meinhardt scored four goals to helped lead the Bemidji State women’s soccer team to a history-making 5-4 victory over Minnesota-Duluth at the St. Scholastica Advantage Cup Tournament. BSU’s win was its first of the 2004 season and it marked the first time the Beavers have beaten the Bulldogs in 10 previous meetings.

Head coach Jim Stone was ecstatic with today’s outcome.

“It was a huge win for us, especially after Minnesota-Duluth beat us 10-0 my first year and 5-0 last year,” Stone said. “It’s pretty hard to describe how good it feels to beat a team like UMD.”

Both teams traded goals in the first half of play as Bemidji State opened the scoring in the 24th minute when Katie Meinhardt took an assist from sophomore Tracy Ringgenberg (Baldwin, N.D.) to tally her first goal of the 2004 season. Minnesota-Duluth matched the Beavers minutes later, as Bridget Larson tied the scored at 1-1 in the 36th minute.

Meinhardt lit up the scoreboard again in the 51st minute off a helper from junior Cristina Egnell (Brooklyn Center, Minn.) to put BSU ahead 2-1. The Bulldogs evened the match at 2-2 in the 61st minute with a goal from Bryn Johnson.

BSU then surged to a two-goal lead with a pair of scores in less than 15 minutes of play. Freshman Sara Susick (Blaine, Minn.) notched her first collegiate goal in the 64th minute off a corner kick and Meinhardt tallied her third marker of the match in the 78th minute.

Sophomore Ashley Lehmeier (Sartell, Minn.) secured her first helper of the year on Meinhardt’s goal.
After allowing the Bulldogs to cut the score to 4-3, Meinhardt scored her final goal of the afternoon in the 79th minute. Lehmeier added her second assist of the match on the goal as well.

The four goals scored by Meinhardt was the second-highest single game total since current BSU junior Lindsey Natwick (Bismarck, N.D.) recorded six goals against Wisconsin-Superior (Oct. 1, 2002).
Stone had high praises for the play of Meinhardt.

“We had some defensive lapses at times, but Katie kind’ve put us on her shoulders,” Stone said. “She equaled her point total of last year in today’s game against a team picked to finish fourth in the NCC.”

Minnesota-Duluth added one more score in the 88th minute of regulation, but Bemidji State held on to secure a 5-4 triumph.

Stone points to a change in attitude as a major reason for such a big win.

“I think for us, the big difference is that we went into this game believing that we could win, which wasn’t the case last weekend in St. Cloud,” Stone said. “We really changed our approach and it worked out well.”

Sophomore goalkeeper Kari Torgerson (New Hope, Minn.) finished the day with 12 saves, compared to Kari Stellmaker of Minnesota-Duluth who stopped two shots.

For the day, the Bulldogs outshot the Beavers 19-7.

BSU’s record is now 1-2-0 on the season, while UMD falls to 1-2-0. The Beavers will conclude tournament play with a contest against Finlandia at noon on Friday.

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