Lady Yellowjackets Try to Keep Momentum on Tough Road Trip (Oct. 9, 2003)

BILLINGS, MT – The MSU Billings women’s soccer team faces its final road trip of the season with games in Minnesota and South Dakota this weekend.  After a one-sided win over Mary last weekend, the Yellowjackets (4-6-1) will be looking for their first win outside of Billings this season when they play at Minnesota-Crookston on Friday and at Northern State on Sunday.

For the Lady Yellowjackets, it will be the third challenging road trip of the season.  After facing ranked teams from the West Region in trips to Washington and California, MSUB will have a chance to measure up against a ranked team from the Central Region when they face Northern State.  The Wolves are ranked No. 7 in the Central Region with an 8-1-2 record.  One of their ties came last weekend to Minnesota-Crookston, who is 6-5-2 overall.

Margot Merrill-Johnson (Jr., Salt Lake City) leads the Yellowjacket offense with six goals and 13 points.  She scored twice last Saturday against Mary and is the program’s second-leading career scorer with 34 points.  Ally Taylor (Fr., Ojai, CA) is having an impressive freshman campaign with four goals and four assists, including two assists in last week’s win.  Her 12 points are second on the team.  She has scored a goal or an assist every game in which the Yellowjackets have scored at least one goal this season.

Megan Plank (Fr., Phoenix, AZ) continues her stellar play in goal for the Jackets, boasting a 1.00 goals-against average.  She made six saves in last week’s win over Mary and has a team-high 55 saves for the season. 

Minnesota-Crookston is 3-1-1 since September 27, including the tie with Northern State.  Christie Chappell and Brittany Efird have each scored five goals for the Golden Eagles, who have outscored their opponents 29-23. 

Northern State has outscored its opponents 41-10 on the season and is led by Melissa Gamble’s 10 goals.  Jessi Hambrick has scored seven times, and goalkeeper Emily Herbst is carrying a 0.84 goals-against average.

MSUB will play its final five games of the season at home after this weekend’s road swing.  The Jackets will open the three-week home stand by hosting Carroll College on October 18.