ckrabbits women’s soccer team fell to No. 15 University of Nebraska Cornhuskers in the first round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship at Barbara Hibner Field in Lincoln, Nebraska Friday, Nov. 10 by a score of 5-2.
The match started off strong on offense with both teams scoring their first goals in the first five minutes of play. The Jacks struck first with a goal by Avery Murdzek, her eighth of the season, followed by a goal by Sadie White for the Huskers. From there, another five combined goals were scored.
Taryn Hettich kicked one into the back of the net in the 24th minute, assisted by Murdzek, giving the Jacks the lead again. This marked Hettich’s first and only goal of the season. After a goal by White for the Huskers in the 34th minute to tie the game up, the Jacks would not score again. Nebraska claimed the lead with a goal by Sarah Weber in the 39th minute, making it a 3-2 game at the end of the first half.
In the second half, the Huskers capped it off with two more goals from Weber in the 48th minute and Eleanor Dale in the 58th minute, who also assisted on Weber’s second goal of the night. The Jacks fired off three shots in three minutes after the 60-minute mark in an attempt to score, but found no success.
The five goals scored by the Huskers is the most the Jackrabbits allowed this season; their previous high was four goals in the match against Denver which they lost.
Averyots, being credited for seven of the team’s 12 in the match and also held two-thirds of the Jackrabbits six shots on goal. Katelyn Beulke had two shots of her own while Hettich, Laney Murdzek and Reagan Anderson spilt the remainder of the total. Jocelyn Tanner made four saves, ending her season with a total of 53. The Jacks were fouled just six times in the match.
Nebraska amassed a total of 15 shots, half of them coming from Sarah Weber, who also had three shots on goal. Three shots were from Dale, two came from White, while Florence Belzile, Haley Peterson, and Emma Prososki took one shot each. Samantha Hauk recorded four saves. The Huskers were fouled a total of 11 times and were given two yellow cards as well.
The Jackrabbits finish the season with a 13-4-3 record, while their record in the tournament drops to 1-6-1 in seven tournament appearances. The Huskers won their second straight matchup against SDSU, having previously met in the 2016 tournament, and advance to the next round of the tournament.
The Jackrabbits say goodbye to 10 seniors as they finish their final season with South Dakota State. The senior group includes Kayla Anderson, Jadenn Carillo, Mya Hansen, Reagan Anderson, Katherine Jones, Jenna Hallen, Delaney Grant, Kaycee Manding, Hayley Lindaman and Jocelyn Tanner.