South Dakota State soccer opened Summit League play at Fishback Soccer Park with a crushing 6-0 victory over St. Thomas last Thursday, earning their seventh win of the season.
St. Thomas
It took just two minutes for the Jacks to score their first goal. Hailee Christensen opened the scoring for her fourth goal of the season. Mia Bosch shot one in during the 24th minute, followed by MaKynlie Cade seven minutes later. Emma Brezenski wrapped up the first period scoring in minute 33.
SDSU put up two more goals in the second period. Ellie Gusman and Alexa Ruppert put in the last pair of goals of the night for the team’s sixth shutout this season.
Mia Bosch led the Jacks in shots with six, plus two on goal and an assist. Lauren Walter put up four shots with one on goal while Lauren Eckerle had a pair of shots and assists. Emma Brezenski led the substitutes in shots with four, also racking up two shots on goal and an assist.
“It was a great performance, all across the board,” Head Coach Brock Thompson said. “I thought the focus that (the players) played with was tremendous.”
St. Thomas put up just seven shots with four on goal the entire evening. Sophia Barjesteh, the Tommies’ leading shooter, had two shots on goal while five other plays split the remaining total. The six goals are the highest allowed by the Tommies this season.
North Dakota
SDSU will host both North Dakota schools this week. With a loss and a tie to open their conference play, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks are sixth in the standings.
UND’s Jessica Machovec leads the Summit League in average shots per game at 3.11. At 29 total this season, she sits behind Charlie Basinet who has 34. She averages 3.09 shots per game which is second best in the conference and leads UND in goals with five on the season. Basinet had a three-goal game against Eastern Washington on Aug. 22.
“(UND is) a really hard team to score on,” Thompson said. “So I think our ability to really – when we recover the ball – just attack quickly is really important.”
Game time is Thursday at 7 p.m. and will be streamed on the Summit League Network through Midco Sports Plus.
North Dakota State
After SDSU plays the Fighting Hawks, they will stay home and host the North Dakota State Bison. After an 0-2 start in conference play the Bison will first travel to play USD before they face the Jacks.
Morgan Russmann has a team high 32 shots this season, scoring three times and assisting on four more goals. Her 19 shots on goal are also a team high. Isabel Garcia shares the team lead in goals, having put up 11 shots with six on goal. Kendall Stadden and Hannah Arnold are the other Bison players with multiple goals this season. Stadden has 18 shots with 10 on goal and three assists, while Arnold has eight shots with five on goal and three assists.
Game time is Sunday at 1 p.m. and will be streamed on the Summit League Network through Midco Sports Plus.
