Soccer wins first round of NSIC playoffs versus Condordia-St. Paul

Aaron Young
Staff Writer

Last night, the Minnesota State soccer team beat Concordia-St. Paul in the first round of the NSIC tournament. In addition to the victory, they shut out the Golden Bears 4-0. They advance to the second round Friday.

It took a while for the Mavericks to get on the board, as they found the back of the net in the 14th minute of the game. 

Senior forward Morgan Cottew scored her first goal and was assisted by senior defenseman Abby Hausken. This was her 9th goal of the year, and first for the Mavericks in the playoffs. 

Morgan didn’t stop there though. She was aggressive in at the start of the first half and scored in the 55th minute. This time through, it was sophomore forward Molly Riley with the assist. 

Less than 10 minutes later, Jenny Vetter put the Mavericks at a 3-0 advantage. 

The last goal of the game was by freshman forward Cassidy Joyce and was her second of the year.

Cottew was the Most Valuable Player for the Mavericks, as she had her foot in play for three of the Mavs four goals, assisting on Vetter’s 62nd minute goal as well.

The Mavericks outshot the Golden Bears 17 to 7 and had 4 corner kicks in comparison to Concordia’s zero. 

Concordia’s goalkeeper had a lot on her plate, facing 17 shots on net and being one of the reasons for their loss. The defense is also responsible for not being able to contain the Mavericks attack.

There was little foul play or warnings given in the game with senior forward Julia Zach receiving a yellow card around the 60th minute.

Coach Bahl expressed he was happy with the way the girls played especially having some players out due to injury.

“Be able to come out and get a performance like this today. To get the results we did in spite of those conditions [puts] our team in a really good place.”

Jenny Venetta explained what her goal meant to the team and how all her hard work paid off.

“I am so happy I can contribute to the team and help us win. It feels good to have my hard work realized.”

The nice part is every game is played here on our home turf. Morgan believes that home field advantage is crucial to a team’s success and to her as well.

“It’s a huge advantage to be able to play on our home turf here. It means a lot to me… We are super excited that we are able to host this year.”

Next up is Augustana this Friday and here’s to a successful game so they can advance to the semifinals.

Feature photo by Mansoor Ahmad| MSU Reporter.