Lady Jackets Give Fans Halloween Treat (Oct. 31, 2004)
MSUB Puts Wrap to Record-Setting Season with 3-0 Blanking of Carroll
Box Score

BILLINGS, MT – The Montana State-Billings women’s soccer team placed a resounding exclamation point at the end of its season with a 3-0 Halloween shutout of visiting Carroll College (13-6-0) on Sunday.  The Yellowjackets controlled play for much of the 90 minutes and benefited from some outstanding goalkeeping to finish the season with a school-record 12-4-3 mark.

The stamp the 2004 Yellowjackets put on the school record book—both individually and collectively—was wide-ranging, but the numbers “twelve” and “zero” stand out most to the five Yellowjacket seniors who were playing their final collegiate games.  Twelve is the new school record for wins in a season; zero is the number of times the Lady Jackets lost at home this year after going 9-0-1 on their home field.

“It’s fun to see the program get the success that I think it deserves,” said senior Margot Merrill-Johnson.  “I hope the legacy we (seniors) leave is that each of us did our part to make the team better.  Every player has a different part in the program.  People look up to Laura Trinkle because of her great attitude and the example she sets academically.  Megan Beckstead spends a lot of time with the freshman and helps them improve.  The younger players look up to Candy Cherry because of how hard she works.  And everyone looks up to Stephanie Clark because she’s a great player.”

Yellowjacket players will likely be looking up to Merrill-Johnson for some time as well.  The Salt Lake City native became the program’s all-time leading scorer this season and also set school records for points and goals scored in a single season.  In a breakout season of an already impressive career, Merrill-Johnson scored 11 goals and 28 points to lead the team in both categories.

On Sunday, the younger players did their part to send the seniors out with a “W.”  Sophomore Alyssa Wolfer scored the game’s first goal at 20:56 when she controlled a loose ball in the box and sent a shot at Saints goalkeeper Nikki Skaggs.  Skaggs was able to reach the ball but couldn’t find the handle.  For Wolfer, it was her sixth goal of the year.

Freshman Vanessa Edwards netted her first collegiate goal fourteen minutes later to give MSU Billings a 2-0 advantage.  The Jackets possessed the ball with several touches before it finally swung back to Edwards in the midfield.  She took a pass about 35 yards from the goal and dribbled through three defenders before firing to the right corner of the goal past an outstretched Skaggs.

“The whole year we talked about playing as one and defending our home turf,” said Cherry.  “Everyone was pumped for today.  We really wanted to win because Carroll is a good team and they always give us a good game.”

Two goals turned out to be more than enough for goalkeeper Megan Plank, who made nine saves on the day for her fifth shutout of the season.  The sophomore from Phoenix played every minute in goal for MSU Billings this season, finishing with a 1.03 goals against average—a new school record.  After battling for the starting job all last year, Plank will enter her junior campaign needing just 20 saves to break that career record.

“I think we played really well as a team today,” said Merrill-Johnson.  “Everyone stepped up a notch and I thought we controlled the game.  It might not have been our best defensive game, but Megan played great and we got it done.”

Playing in her 70th-straight start, Cherry capped her career with a goal in the 84th minute Sunday to give MSU Billings a 3-0 cushion.  The Missoula, MT, native broke free on the far right side of the net and sent a left-footed shot over Skaggs and into the far netting for her fourth goal of the year. 

“I normally play on the left side,” said Cherry of the play that led to the goal.  “I was cutting it back across and trying to place in front of the net for someone.  It was kind of a surprise that it came back that far, but it was a good surprise.”

Merrill-Johnson and Cherry each started every game over the past four seasons.  Their 70 games played and 70 games started are both school records.  Cherry arrived at MSU Billings in 2000.  Following a redshirt year, the defender-turned-midfielder never relinquished her spot in the lineup and became a three-time team captain.  Merrill-Johnson landed in Billings in 2001 and was a starter from the time she set foot on campus until she finished her career Sunday.

“It’s really exciting,” said Cherry of her five-year path at MSU Billings.  “Everyone that stuck with it (after a change in coaches in 2002) is the heart of the program.  Don has such a great outlook and probably had more hope for the program than any of us.  One thing the seniors carry is we know what it took to build the program.”

Click HERE for photos of the Lady Jackets vs. Carroll College.