South Dakota State opened Summit League play with a victory at Caniglia Field in Omaha on Sunday.
It only took a handful of minutes until a Jackrabbit found the back of the net, that being Hailee Christensen. Jenna Hallen found it at the 40th minute to make it a 2-0 score at halftime. Omaha opened the second half scoring with a Lindsey Birch shot at the 47th minute to bring the game within a goal. A pair of Laney Murdzek goals allowed the Jacks to sail past the Mavericks for a 4-1 victory.
“I always say…the conference games are the most fun,” Laney Murdzek said. “I think we, as a team, really went out there and played well and scored a lot of fun goals.” Murdzek has three goals on the year.
17 shots were put up by SDSU with four of the Jacks starters ending the day with three shots each. Jenna Hallen shot a pair with one on goal. Emma Knack recorded three saves in the second half, bringing her season total to 16.
The Mavericks racked up a dozen shots. Marissa Gohr led the team with three while Emilie Erland, Maggie Gundersen, and Lindsey Birch shot a pair each. Maja Baun, who played all 90 minutes, recorded three saves. The four goals scored by SDSU are the most the Mavericks allowed this season.
“[This was the] best game we’ve played as far as the attacking side of the ball,” head coach Brock Thompson said. “For us to score four [goals] really speaks to the performance of our attacking players.”
SDSU improves to 8-2-1 on the year and have now won 17 Summit League opening games.
Kansas City
The Jacks return to Fishback Soccer Park in Brookings to host the Kansas City Roos. They enter this contest 6-3-3 overall and are searching for their first Summit League win this season, losing to Denver and North Dakota State.
Adrianna Benassi and Madison Page tie in scoring for the Roos with four goals apiece. Benassi has 10 shots on goal for the year and two games with multiple goals, both at home during their non-conference schedule. Brianna Castleberry is the Roos leading shooter, averaging just over two shots a game, but has only scored once all season. Between the goalkeepers of Riley Moore and Maddie Sibbing, they have made 38 saves while allowing eight goals. Three consecutive Roos victories in August have been shutouts and they have allowed multiple goals in only one game since.
Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday and can be watched on the Summit League Network through Midco Sports Plus.
St. Thomas
The Jacks hit the road to Saint Paul this weekend to play the Tommies. They enter this contest at 4-5-2 overall and are also searching for their first Summit League win this season.
The Tommies are still in search of a goal in Summit League play, having ended their first game against South Dakota in a scoreless draw and giving up a goal against Oral Roberts. Lexi Huber is the team’s leading scorer with five goals, but she has not scored since Sept. 8 against Viterbo. Sophia Barjesteh leads the Tommies in shots with 23 on the year and nine shots on goal. Olivia Rowe has spent nearly 900 minutes on goalkeeping duty this season and is credited with 36 saves on the year, but has allowed 17 goals. The Tommies are 4-1-1 when allowing one goal or less while going 0-4-1 when allowing multiple goals.
Game time is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. and can be watched on the Summit League Network through Midco Sports Plus.
