BEMIDJI, Minn. - The Bemidji State soccer team
ended its regular season on a high note by defeating Upper Iowa 3-2
Sunday afternoon at the BSU Soccer Field.
The freshmen got the scoring started early for the Beavers when Alysha Domiano (Fr., Dayton, Minn.) knocked in her second career goal off a corner kick by Kara Smyth (Fr., Cary, Ill.). The goal came in the 7th minute.
Erica
Baedke notched an equalizer a little more than two minutes later off an
assist by Ashley Lengel and the score was tied at 1-1.
Jamie Ford
(So., Edina, Minn.) continued her stellar play as of late, scoring her
fifth goal of the season at the 16:41 mark of the first half, giving
Bemidji State a 2-1 advantage early in the game. All five of her goals
have come in the last 11 games. Sunday’s goal came after she
attempted a shot that initially hit the upper post, was rebounded by Megan Wallner
(Sr., Bemidji, Minn.), and was passed back to Ford so she could finish
what she started. The Peacock goalkeeper dove to stop the first shot,
and was unable to recover in time to stop Wallner’s assist to
Ford.
After all that scoring, the teams took a break for the rest of the half and were unable to do any more damage to the scoreboard.
That changed in the 53rd minute when Christina Hicks
(Sr., Minnetonka, Minn.) scored her second goal of the season, which
proved to be the eventual game winner. Smyth started the initial play
at midfield. She passed the ball over the heads of the Upper Iowa
defenders along the left sideline to Danielle Uphoff (So., Brainerd, Minn.). Uphoff sent the ball into box, where Hicks was waiting after one bounce to head it into the net.
Amy
Campbell scored the final goal of the game in the 61st minute off an
assist by Baedke, and the Beavers (9-8-3, 5-3-1 NSIC) finished up the
regular season with an impressive victory over one of the best teams in
the conference.
Ford’s goal was the 10th
of her career, moving her into solo possession of seventh place on the
all-time BSU goal-scoring list. Hicks now has eight career goals, and
Uphoff has five assists this year, which are second on the team. Smyth
is leading that category with her six assists this season, which are
third most in a single season in school history.
Samantha Ross
(Fr., Stillwater, Minn.) gave up two goals for the second-consecutive
game, but did save seven shots in goal for Bemidji State. She came away
with the win, and improved her season record to 3-2-2. Melissa Heitzman
had five saves in net for UIU (12-7-1, 6-2-1 NSIC) and gave up three
goals, taking the loss.
BSU is now 3-0
all-time against Upper Iowa, and coach Jim Stone secured his
third-straight winning conference season. The five wins in NSIC play
are the third-most in Beaver history, and the nine total wins are the
fourth-most in school history.
Now that the
regular season is over, it’s time for the Northern Sun
Intercollegiate Conference Tournament. Bemidji State will enter the
tournament as the No. 5 seed and will travel to Bismarck, N.D. on
Wednesday, Oct. 31 to take on the defending tournament champions, the
No. 4-seeded University of Mary (6-3-0). The Marauders enter the
postseason on a high note after defeating previously unbeaten Northern
State University (7-1-1) 1-0 last Saturday. This will be the third
meeting of the season between the two teams, and the game time will be
announced later.
NOTES: BSU is 2-2 in NSIC
play against the top four teams in the conference this season, having
defeated U-Mary and UIU, but losing to Winona State and Northern
State...UIU outshot the Beavers 18-15...Upper Iowa had 10 fouls, BSU
had 5...The Peacocks had more corner kicks, 7-4...No yellow cards were
issued...UIU was called offsides three times, Bemidji State was
whistled twice.
FINAL 2007 NSIC STANDINGS
1. Winona State* 8-1-0
2. Northern State* 7-1-1
3. Upper Iowa* 6-2-0
4. U-Mary* 6-3-0
5. Bemidji State* 5-3-1
6. Minnesota State-Moorhead* 3-5-1
7. Concordia-St. Paul* 3-6-0
Southwest Minnesota State* 2-5-2
9. Minnesota Crookston 2-7-0
10.Wayne State (NE) 0-9-0
* indicates qualified for NSIC Tournament
--bsu--
