Lady Yellowjackets Stun Northern State for Third Straight Win (Oct. 12, 2003)
Box Score

ABERDEEN, SD – The MSU Billings women’s soccer team won its third straight game and its first over a regionally ranked opponent Sunday with a 1-0 shutout of Northern State University.  The Wolves entered the weekend ranked No. 7 in the Central Region.  The Yellowjackets climbed back to the .500 mark with the win, improving to 6-6-1 with five games remaining.  The loss dropped Northern State to 8-3-2.

Stephanie Clark (Jr., Tualatin, OR) scored the eventual game-winner with 15 seconds left in the first half off Ally Taylor’s (Fr., Ojai, CA) corner kick.  It was Clark’s third goal and Taylor’s team-leading sixth assist of the season.  Taylor also leads the team with 18 points.

“We work a lot on our corner kicks and that was the difference today,” said head coach Don Trentham.  “We were able to capitalize and score on our corner kick and we did a good job defending theirs.  In the second half our defense did what it had to do to win.” 

Goalkeeper Megan Plank (Fr., Phoenix, AZ) went the distance for her sixth win of the year.  She stopped two shots in the first half and preserved the win for the Yellowjackets with three second half saves.  The shutout leaves MSUB just one short of the school record of six in a season.

The Yellowjacket defenders locked down the Wolves’ potent offense for most of the game, allowing just 11 total shots and five shots on goal.  Northern State had outscored its opponents 41-11 entering the game.  Starting defender Mandy Reed (Sr., Denver, CO) missed both of the weekend’s game with an ankle injury suffered in last week’s win over Mary.  She was replaced by freshman Jenni Furman (Casper, WY).

“Early in the week we faced some adversity with the flu going around,” said Trentham.  “Then with Mandy out we had another challenge.  Jenni Furman, who hasn’t had a lot of playing time this year, has worked hard to get better each week.  She got her opportunity this weekend and really stepped up and got the job done.”

The Yellowjackets put eight shots on goal in the game, led by three from Taylor who is averaging 1.9 shots on goal per game.  Margot Merrill-Johnson (Jr., Salt Lake City) had two shots on goal.

“Our goal coming out here was to win both games,” added Trentham.  “Only giving up one goal in two games is pretty big.  Today was just one of those games where our players had to battle throughout the game.  Northern State missed a couple scoring opportunities, and some might say that we were lucky to win today.  But teams that work hard together make their own luck happen.”

MSU Billings will play its final five games at home starting with next Saturday’s match-up against Carroll College.  Carroll is 8-5-0 after a win at Central Washington this weekend.  The Yellowjackets will then host a pair of Division I teams (Utah Valley State and Northern Colorado) in a tournament on October 24-26; Rocky Mountain College on October 29; and North Dakota, currently unbeaten and ranked No. 6 in the nation, on November 2.