MINOT, N.D. – Chloe Melton has accomplished a lot this season. She's broken the Minot State University record for most career assists, moved into the top three in both career points and goals and became just the third player in Beaver history to record double-digit goals, but her biggest career moment may have come in the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament Wednesday evening.
 
In the 3-1 win against Upper Iowa the Fleet, England native scored her first hat trick, the first hat trick in NSIC Tournament play, breaking not only that conference record, but also the record for most points in a conference tournament game with six.
 
"I feel like it was a long time coming," Melton said, referring back to her two-goal game against Minnesota Duluth where she felt she had a chance to do it then. "Now that I finally did it, especially at home in front of a home crowd, I'm very pleased."
 
Melton was also quick to give credit where it was due as her team did a good job finding her in open positions. Ninfa Ramirez, who now has 11 assists on the season (another MSU record), assisted on all three goals while Brianna Ramsey also assisted on one. The three assists from Ramirez ties for the second most in NSIC Tournament play.
 
"It was definitely a team effort," Melton said. "I couldn't have done it without the great balls from Ninja and Bri."
 
Getting the ball to Ramirez and Melton was a strategic adjustment from head coach Jason Spain after a close first half which ended with a 1-0 lead for the Beavers after the first goal was scored in the 37th minute. It was a conversation about their time at Yuba College with assistant coach Aaron Daley that helped turn things into Minot State's favor.
 
"They were man marking everywhere, making it difficult on our possession," Spain said. "Aaron came to me and said, 'Their running the same system as Modesto in 2004,' and we went right back to what we did 12 years ago. We wanted early balls to our front runners and Ninja and Chloe just tore them apart."
 
With that in mind the Beavers quickly scored their next two goals after just 10 minutes of play in the second half.
 
After the game Spain summarized his feelings in two words.
 
"Feels good."
 
Minot State will host the remainder of the NSIC Tournament on Friday and Sunday, November 4 and 6. The Beavers are scheduled to play Augustana on Friday at 3 p.m. at Herb Parker Stadium.
 
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.