Box Score MANKATO, Minn. – Minot State University's comeback attempt ended up falling a couple minutes short.

The Beavers rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit behind a strong second-half effort, eventually tying the game at one, but a late goal by No. 21 Augustana University ended the rally.

Augie's Emily Jacobson's long-range free kick found the top left corner of the net with just 2:19 to play in the second half to lift the Vikings to a 2-1 win over Minot State in the semifinals of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament Friday at The Pitch.

"The free-kick goals are killing us," said MSU head coach Jason Spain. "We are nearly impossible to score on during the run of play. We have to be better at defending those. We were chasing the game for so long and after we leveled it, maybe we took a breath."

The Beavers (15-4-1 overall) started slow but seemed to be warming up when Augie (17-2-1) took its first lead with just 12:19 to play in the first half. Mackenzie Main beat MSU goalkeeper Celene Johnson (Sr., G, Rocklin, Calif.) with a cross-goal shot.

"I felt like we needed to just get to halftime," Spain said of the late-in-the-half goal. "We played midfield box and they (the Vikings) struggled with it a little when we were doing it right, but we started knocking balls in and weren't getting the second touch after Ninja (MSU forward Ninfa Ramirez, Jr., Perris, Calif.). We got frustrated with that and changed in the second half. We went with our base and basically ran over them for 43 minutes."

MSU's outstanding play was rewarded in the 73rd minute as Megan Kawahara (RFr., M, Riverside, Calif.) cleaned up a scrum in front with a shot from just inside the box that got by Vikings' Taylor Machacek in the upper right side. It was Kawahara's second goal of the season and her second in her past four games.

"Megan's been playing a lot better," Spain said. "It's tough on a freshman to come in and keep up at times, but she's playing like a vet now. She will definitely help us as we move on and she gets more time."

The Beavers had plenty of chances to get a game-winner of their own as they peppered the Vikings in the second half, outshooting Augie 11-1 in the second and 18-8 overall. Machacek finished with eight saves for Augustana in the win.

"It told the kids afterwards the tournament champion never gets out of the region because our tournament is a grind," Spain said. "We proved we can run a nationally ranked team in the second half and just have to do that for 90 minutes. It might be a blessing in disguise. We will get a little rest now. We were gassed after making our run in 2012.

"This was a good test run for us before a national tournament game. We have to be at that (the second half) level and maintain that if you are going to survive a bracket tournament and advance. We were very good against Bemidji State Wednesday and good for a half here. But we were flat-footed at the start. We have to learn how to keep up the pressure for 90 minutes, 90 minutes, 90 minutes to move on."

Johnson suffered just her fourth loss on the season in goal for MSU and officially didn't record a save on eight total shots by the Vikings. Ramirez was held off the scoresheet, but took nine shots with three on goal for the Beavers.

Minot State will now wait for the NCAA Division II national tournament bracket to be announced. MSU came into the tournament as the No. 4 team in the Central Region. The NCAA National Tournament Selection Show is Monday at 5:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.





About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.