MINOT, N.D. – Early goals for the Minot State University soccer team provided a cushion for head coach Jason Spain to play 26 players in the season opener against Black Hills State, but it was the seniors who led their team to victory.

After just two minutes and 54 seconds, Chloe Melton scored the first goal of the 2016 season on a breakaway with the assist coming from fellow senior Ninfa Ramirez.

"The big thing was getting Chloe on the board early and take some pressure off of Ninja and balance out their defense" said head coach Jason Spain. "If [Ramirez] gets into a one-on-one situation she's unstoppable and Chloe appears to be unstoppable too."

The second goal came from an unlikely source as defender Ryann Rafferty took a long shot from midfield to score her first goal since her freshman season at the 10-minute mark.

"Well at first I didn't think it was going in, it looked way too high, but Dalia Tapia told me right after I touched the ball that it was going in," Rafferty said. "I thought there was no way, but everyone said they watched it go right in. It was a good way to start my senior year."

Ramirez scored the Beavers next two goals with assists from Brianna Ramsey and Melton. Coming off of a 36-point season last year, Ramirez began 2016 by scoring five points.

"It was nice picking up from last year and it was also nice being able to get an assist too with that extra person up top," Ramirez said.

With all four goals and three assists coming from the seniors, Spain was more than happy to give the rest of his team some playing time.

"We had good reps for the whole roster instead of just the first 15," Spain said. "You could see our system in play throughout each line up that was on the field."

That system didn't just work out offensively, but defensively as well. Minot State allowed no shots in the first half and just two in the second with one shot on goal from the visiting Yellow Jackets who were playing in their first collegiate varsity game.

Goalies Leila Torres and Erin Rafferty split time in the first game, but due to the new defensive strategy neither saw much action.

"In practice we have been working on our shift from the back to the middle to the forward and that came together nicely today," Ryann Rafferty said. "Our possession looked awesome. We've been trying to keep calm and not dive in, stand up our players, mark tight, box them out. We've been putting in the work so it was nice to see the results."

All-around this game was just how Spain and his team wanted to begin their season. Offensively, defensively, and from every spot on the depth chart.

"I can't think of a better way to start," Spain said.

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.