JAMESTOWN, N.D. – Minot State University women's soccer opened the 2016 with a 3-0 exhibition win over NAIA University of Jamestown Monday at the UJ Soccer Field.

Monday marks the only exhibition game for the Beavers in 2016.

MSU and UJ played three, 30 minute periods, with the Beavers scoring once in the first and twice in the second. The Beavers split time at goalkeep as well in pitching a shutout.

"I thought we looked pretty good," said MSU head coach Jason Spain. "We have some things to improve on, but the back line held. We gave up some chances at times, but cleaned them up. We mixed things up, some matching to see where we are at and see who can play."

The Beavers opened the scoring with returning All-Central Region selection Ninfa Ramirez netting a goal on a feed from Meagan Kawahara in the first 30 minutes. Chloe Melton scored in the second stanza on an assist from Ramirez and "Ninja" finished off the scoring with her second goal on an assist by Melton.

In all, both Ramirez and Melton finished with multi-point games as Ramirez netted two goals and added an assist with Melton scoring a goal and one helper.

Leila Torres and Erin Rafferty split time in goal for the clean sheet. Torres drew Spain's attention for a couple of solid stops.

"When we gave up a couple chances, Leila jumped on both of them," Spain said. "It's still a camp battle at this point. Both will probably play in the Black Hill State game, but it is good to get some competition. That big save by Leila will force Erin to dot her I's and cross her T's."

Spain was also pleased with the play of his newcomers, singling out both Ashley Hunter, a freshman from Rocklin, Calif., and Hannah Mitchell, a freshman from Phoenix, Ariz.

"Ashley played really well, we moved her around to some different positions and she did a good job with them," he said. "Hannah played well in her first game as well. We had a couple new kids not play today and we will most likely see some of them in the opener."

The Beavers, coming off their second NCAA Division II National Tournament bid in four years, open the regular season Sept. 1 with a match up against Black Hills State set for 2 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.