BEMIDJI, Minn. - The Bemidji State soccer team produced one of its best games of the season and shut out Winona State after giving up two early goals. Those goals proved to be fatal, however, as BSU could only muster one goal in a 2-1 defeat against the Warriors Saturday afternoon at the BSU Soccer Field.

That goal came at the feet of Jenny Stromberg (Fr., Ramsey, Minn.), who notched her first career goal off an assist by Lauren Olivares (Jr., El Paso, Texas). The goal came with just 13 seconds remaining in the first half, and gave the Beavers new life after getting down 2-0 early.

Amelia Kasten and Holly Sutton scored goals in the 21st and 24th minutes, respectively. Kallie Tellefsen and Annie Lauterer recorded assists on the two goals.

The Beavers cranked up the defense and completely shut down the WSU offensive attacke after giving up the early goals. Bemidji State took control of the game and outplayed the Warriors in the second half, but was unable to find an equalizer.

BSU began to rattle the Warrior goalkeeper, Amanda Diehm, after putting continuous pressure on her for the latter stages of the game. The Beavers had the ball in Warrior territory for most of the second half, and had numerous chances against Diehm to score their second goal. She held strong, however, making sure WSU would come away with the victory.

Samantha Ross (Fr., Stillwater, Minn.) was in net for BSU, and she settled down after the early goals, saving all three shots faced after giving up the two early goals. Diehm had fives saves and gave up the one goal to Stromberg.

BSU (8-8-3, 4-3-1 NSIC) was able to outshoot Winona State 11-10. The Beavers were called for less fouls (14-10), even though they were the more aggressive team for the majority of the game.

The loss to the Warriors (15-3, 7-1 NSIC) coupled with the University of Mary defeating Northern State University and Upper Iowa University beating the University of Minnesota, Crookston means that Sunday’s game with the Peacocks means nothing for Bemidji State in terms of playoff positioning.

The Beavers will travel to Bismarck, N.D. on Oct. 31 to play U-Mary in the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regardless of how Sunday’s game turns out. Winona State plays UMC Sunday, and a victory would give the Warriors the regular season conference championship.

With that said, Upper Iowa will be coming to Bemidji Sunday afternoon for a 1 p.m. showdown with the Beavers. This will be the season finale for both teams.

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