MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Bemidji State University soccer team was on the verge of taking down a new member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Sunday afternoon at the NMU practice field for just the second time in school history.

The Beavers were ahead 1-0 after scoring the first goal of the game in the 77th minute.

Unfortunately, the University of Minnesota, Duluth Bulldogs were able to amp up the pressure and notch a game-tying goal in the 88th minute and send the game into overtime.

Bemidji State was playing with the wind in the second half, and kept that advantage in the first overtime.

UMD continued to put pressure on BSU, taking two overtime shots. Then they lost possession for what proved to be the last time.

Defender Kari McAllen (Fr., Fargo, N.D.) collected a loose ball near the Beavers goalkeeper box, and had just enough time to boot it up the field and give her defense time to relax.

The ball traveled all the way past midfield, and the final two Bulldog defenders misjudged the ball. It sailed over both their heads, and forward Jamie Ford (Jr., Edina, Minn.) noticed the error by the opposing team and instantaneously took off on a dead sprint right in between them.

She found herself all alone. It was just her and the keeper, and the way this season has begun for the 2008 Beaver squad, there was little doubt with what would come next.

The ball bounced in front of Ford twice before she caught up to it, and on the third bounce she calmly lobbed the ball over the charging UMD goalkeeper into the back of the net in the 99th minute, giving Bemidji State a 2-1 overtime victory. The win gives the Beavers a 2-0 record to start the season for the first time in school history and drops the Bulldogs to an 0-3 start for the first time in their 15-year history. Ford’s goal gives her 11 for her career, which moves her into a tie for sixth place on the school’s all-time list with former BSU great Megan Wallner.

The Beavers took down Northern Michigan 1-0 in Saturday’s contest for the first time in program history, and they now move to 2-10-1 all-time against Minnesota Duluth, who, by the way, was picked to finish fourth in the NSIC this season.

The game began very similar to Saturday’s contest with the Wildcats, with the opposing team possessing the ball for large chunks of the first period. The Bulldogs took eight shots (four on goal) to BSU’s one, but was never able to connect with a goal.

After a flat first half, the Beavers came out firing in the second. They became the aggressors and found multiple quality shots.

It was only a matter of time before the first BSU goal would come.

In the 77th minute, a ball found its way into the offensive third of the field, in the right corner. Forward Analey Skog (Fr., St. Francis, Minn.) had it on the right side, and she beat two defenders, passing it near the middle of the field to Ford, who carried it deep into the corner. She beat two more defenders along the goal line, and dribbled toward the side of the net. The UMD keeper tried to come out and stop Ford, but she sniped a pass under the diving keeper to an overlapping Briana Scanlan (Fr., East Grand Forks, N.D.). Scanlan stood two feet in front of an empty net, and just touched the ball into the back, giving herself her first collegiate goal and giving the Beavers a 1-0 lead.

The Beavers had better composure in this game than they did after taking the lead against Northern Michigan with 1:07 to play. Even still, the Bulldogs had just enough time to notch a game-tying goal on a crossing pass in front of the net that was headed over goalkeeper Samantha Ross (So., Stillwater, Minn.).

The UMD goal didn’t rattle the Beavers, as they used the extra time to win the tournament and take down the Bulldogs

Ross played 98:19 in goal for BSU, and she finished the game with nine saves, matching the number of shots on goal BSU had. She moves to 2-0 this season with a total of 19 saves and only one goal allowed. UMD attempted 17 shots (10 on goal), and led in corners 5-2.

The Beavers will get a day off before returning to the BSU Soccer Field for the first home game of the season Sept. 2 against Jamestown College.

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