Jackrabbits shut out Hawks to close road trip

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (SDSU) — Two first-half goals, along with another late in the second half, proved to be the difference as the South Dakota State women’s soccer team defeated North Dakota, 3-0, in a Summit League match at Bronson Field on Sunday.

The Jackrabbits outshot the Fighting Hawks by a 12-3 margin during the first half, but North Dakota had arguably the first opportunity at finding the back of the net.

The Fighting Hawks dispossessed the ball from SDSU on its own side of the field in the 27th minute with keeper Emma Knack away from the goal. North Dakota’s Amelia Loeffler struck a kick towards the net, but SDSU defender Kaycee Manding came running from the opposite side of the field to deflect the ball away from danger and keep the contest scoreless.

SDSU scored the eventual game-winning goal, along with some added on insurance, three minutes later.

Laney Murdzek hit a cross to the opposite side of the field where the ball found Manding. The SDSU senior defender made her way past a UND player and sent a pass to Katherine Jones who got enough power behind a shot to give the Jackrabbits a 1-0 lead narrowly into the 30th minute of action.

South Dakota State extended its lead in the same minute of play. A pair of freshmen connected on the next Jackrabbit goal as Mia Bosch dribbled down the middle of the pitch. She passed it ahead to Xehlia Salanoa , who after crossing up a Fighting Hawk defender, booted a lefty strike past the UND keeper to make it 2-0.

From there, the Jackrabbits controlled a majority of the match. SDSU battled through a litany of North Dakota fouls as the Fighting Hawks were eventually given four yellow cards on the day to SDSU’s one.

The Jacks tacked on to their score tally in the 87th minute. Sophia Hoffman got a pass through the UND defense that found Adrianne Agbayani . The freshman forward beat the keeper in a one-on-one opportunity to extend the lead to 3-0.

SDSU closed out the proceedings with a 21-8 edge in shots including an 12-6 margin in shots on goal. The Jacks also had a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks. The Jackrabbits improved to 11-3-2 (4-1-1 Summit League) on the season, while North Dakota dropped to 4-8-5 (0-4-3)

NOTES

• SDSU continued its recent success against North Dakota. The Jackrabbits have now won eight consecutive matches against the Fighting Hawks and are 15-3-1 all-time.
• The goal for Jones was the first of the season for the senior. Manding was credited with an assist on the play. Salanoa’s goal was the first of her college career with Bosch getting an assist. Agbayani’s goal was the third of her freshman campaign, while Hoffmann got her second assist of 2024 and Hayley Lindaman was credited with the second assist of her career.
• The Jackrabbits’ goals came 44 seconds apart from each other. It’s the sixth fastest span between goals in program history.
• Bosch had a team-high five shots for the Jackrabbits followed by Jones’s three. Goalkeeper Stephanie Leckwold , who came on in the second half for SDSU, made four saves.
• SDSU’s win in Grand Forks gave the Jackrabbits their eighth away victory of the season. It represents the most victories on the road in a single season for the Jacks in program history.
• The win for the Jackrabbits clinched SDSU a spot in the 2024 Summit League Women’s Soccer Championship which begins on Nov. 2. Seeding for the six-team tournament is still to be determined.

UP NEXT
South Dakota State returns to Brookings for its final two matches of the regular season. The Jackrabbits will first play host to Denver on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 6 p.m. at Fishback Soccer Park.

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