SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – With a 2-0 win against Sioux Falls the Minot State University soccer team has won all five of its conference games so far this season. Four of which have been on the road.
A two point victory for the Beavers doesn't tell the entire story as it was a hard fought win with a lot of strategy used to keep Sioux Falls off balance offensively. Going into halftime neither team had scored any goals and it was due to the way MSU approached the game.
"We really wanted possession," said head coach
Jason Spain. "There were not a lot of long balls for them. We keep them from long balls which can lead corner kicks and free kicks. We went to goal a lot less than we would normally do, but it kept them from getting a bunch of [goalie] punts that could lead to more long balls."
Six minutes into the second half Ninfa 'Ninja' Ramirez (F, Jr., Perris Calif.) scored her sixth goal of the year with an assist from
Maritssa Perez (CM, So., Santa Ana, Calif.). After going up 1-0 with plenty of time left to play Spain was proud of the way his team handled the remainder of the competition.
"When you are in the second half and tied and you're looking for 3 points, the clock seems to click against you," Spain said. "The bench starts to chirp a little. The girls did a good job of staying calm. It was a great turn by Ninja. Another game winner for her, she has a lot of those already."
The second goal came from
Emilie Rebelo (D, Sr., Sacramento, Calif.) off of a penalty kick that had no chance of being stopped. That goal put Rebelo is sole ownership of second place in the all-time career goals leader board at MSU with 15.
"She hit it pretty hard," Spain said. "There wasn't any saving that, it was a quality shot and she struck it pretty good."
The win over Sioux Falls (2-5, 1-4) marks the seventh road game Minot State (7-1, 5-0) has played this season. The Beavers will return home this weekend to play two more conference opponents.
Minot State will play the current No. 25 Winona State (6-2, 3-2) and Upper Iowa (3-3-2, 2-2-1) on October 3 and 4. Both games will begin at 1 p.m.
