Lady Yellowjackets Hammer MN-Crookston for First Road Win (Oct. 10, 2003)
Box Score

CROOKSTON, MN – The MSU Billings women’s soccer team scored a pair of goals in each half Friday to down the University of Minnesota-Crookston 4-1.  Ally Taylor (Fr., Ojai, CA) scored two goals to lead the Yellowjackets to their first win away from Billings this season. 

The Yellowjackets’ lone road win before Friday was a 3-0 win at cross-town Rocky Mountain.  Their six road losses came on a pair of West coast swings where they faced three teams in five days.  Four of the six West Region teams they faced on the road were ranked in the region’s top ten at the time.

Sara Otis (Sr., Vancouver, WA) put the Yellowjackets ahead early with an unassisted goal at the 1:32 mark.  It was the second-fastest goal to start a game in school history.  The goal was the third of the year for Otis and the second in as many games.  Taylor followed up with her first goal of the game just over three minutes later, scoring at 4:47.  She was assisted by Otis, who moved into third place on the Yellowjacket career scoring list.

“It’s a credit to our girls that they took a 12-hour bus ride yesterday and then come out and scored in the first minute and a half,” said head coach Don Trentham.  “Any time you are on the road and can get off to a good start by scoring twice in the first five minutes is critical.  The first ten minutes of the game was probably the best soccer we’ve played this season.”

Taylor extended the two-goal halftime lead with her sixth goal of the season in the 59^th minute.  She was assisted by Margot Merrill-Johnson (Jr., Salt Lake City).  The Golden Eagles finally found a way around Yellowjacket goalkeeper Megan Plank (Fr., Phoenix, AZ) in the 67^th minute on Lydia Johnson’s second goal of the year.  Plank made six saves in the game, with five coming in the first half.  She maintained her 1.00 goals-against average and improved her season record to 5-3-1.

Merrill-Johnson scored her seventh goal of the season in the 67^th minute to provide the final margin of victory.  Merrill-Johnson leads the Yellowjackets in goals scored and her 16 points are just one behind Taylor’s team-leading 17.

The Yellowjackets will test themselves against the Central Region’s No. 7 ranked team on Sunday when they play at Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD.  Northern State is 8-1-2 entering the weekend.

“Our goal coming out here was to get to .500 for the season,” said Trentham.  “We took the first step today, but will have to play well at Northern State to get there.”

MSUB improved to 5-6-1 with its second-straight win.  The loss dropped the Golden Eagles, who have been competitive in the Central Region, to 6-6-2.