Zach Anderson

The women’s soccer team is coming off a hard-fought 4-3 win over North Dakota State University that gave them the number one seed in the Summit League Tournament and a share of the regular season title.

The Jacks built leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, but NDSU answered back, each player with a goal of her own. At the 75:37 mark of the match, Kayla Braffet hit the game-winning goal off a pass from teammate Megan Huegli to seal the victory.

Danni Healy, Courtney Higgins and Kaitlin Justice also added goals for the Jacks.

SDSU used two goalies in the win over NDSU. Dani Pappas started the first half and Brie Rogers started the second.

The Jackrabbits, the defending Summit League Tournament champs, are riding a five-game winning streak into their Nov. 6 Summit League Tournament matchup with Western Illinois.

“Winning the last five games has been great, but more importantly, it’s how we have been winning that’s pretty impressive,” SDSU head coach Lang Wedemeyer said. “I think every goal and good result builds our confidence for the tournament.”

The five-game winning streak came on the heels of two double overtime losses at home for the Jacks.

SDSU has beaten Western Illinois once this year in a 2-1 victory over the Leathernecks in Macomb, Ill., on Oct.16.

The Jacks hope to defeat the Leathernecks to have a chance to claim their second straight Summit League Tournament Championship with a victory over either North Dakota State or IUPUI.

“The conference has been so strong this year with so many dangerous teams,” Wedemeyer said. “I think that if we can maintain our focus for an entire game, we’ll put ourselves into a good position to get positive results.”

SDSU’s game against Western Illinois will take place at Fishback Soccer Park on Nov. 6 at 3 p.m. followed by the NDSU vs. IUPUI game at 6 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for Nov. 8 at noon.