Soccer moves into sole possesion of first place in NSIC

The Minnesota State women’s soccer team were back on the road for another two-game road stint. 

The Mavericks’ first matchup was a 1-0 win against the University of Mary Friday. 

In the 54th minute, Anna Van Wyngarden found the back of the net for the Mavs to give them the lead and what turned out to be the winning goal. It was Van Wyngarden’s second goal of the season and her first ever winning goal in her MSU career. 

Ashlyn Watt and freshman Maddix Archer each got an assist after tic-tac-toe passing to Van Wyngarden before she slotted it home. It was their first assists of the season and Archer’s first ever assist in the purple and yellow.

The Mavs were able to get another shutout after keeping their opponents from scoring for the third consecutive match. This gave goalkeeper Mackenzie Rath her 28th career shutout, which now ties her for second all-time in MSU shutouts with Alexa Rabune.

Head coach Brian Bahl was proud of how his team handled the weather conditions during the match that took place in Bismarck, North Dakota.

“Really tough battle today in very challenging conditions. We knew it would be a 90-minute fight and it definitely was. Our ladies had tremendous energy and a great work rate to them today and that helped carry us to the win,” Bahl said in a press release posted to the Maverick Athletics website. 

Bahl also spoke about his team’s heart and determination to get another victory due to a second half goal. 

“Finding a way is becoming our theme and we hung in there and battled to get another second half goal and win on the road. I’m very proud of our team for sticking together and showing tremendous heart and determination today,” Bahl said. 

Next up for the Mavs was a bout with Minot State. The match that took place at Herb Parker Stadium ended in a 1-1 tie. 

After failing to get a goal in the first half for the seventh consecutive game, the Mavs were able to take the lead in the 65th minute thanks to Allie Williams. Williams controlled a pass while spinning to avoid a Beaver defender and found the net from a shot at the top of the penalty box. 

The Mavs were unable to hang on to their one-goal lead as they conceded a goal in the 73rd minute from the penalty spot. 

Bahl thought his team controlled the game but noted that they need to score more goals so that unfortunate bounces don’t cost them wins.  

“It’s really tough to leave here with a tie. Another unfortunate bounce, similar to the Grand Valley game that gave them a PK after we controlled the game like we did and had a lead, is hard to swallow. I’m proud of our team though for blocking out the weather conditions and playing a solid game. Obviously, we need to find a way to score more goals so that the unfortunate bounces don’t hold us back,” Bahl said. 

The Mavs will be back in action Friday when they host St. Cloud State.   

Header Photo: The Mavs tied their second match of the season Sunday. This brings their record to 5-1-2 on the year with 10 games remaining. (Lilly Anderson/The Reporter

Write to Mohamed Warsame at mohamed.warsame@mnsu.edu