(Story from UMC Athletics)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The University of Minnesota Crookston women’s soccer team held a clean sheet in the final 45 minutes but the University of Sioux Falls used four goals in the first half to earn a 4-1 win Sun., Oct. 6. The Golden Eagles limited USF to just two shots in the second half as Minnesota Crookston was able to hold the ball well on their offensive half and were sound defensively.
The Golden Eagles fall to 0-7 (0-6 NSIC) with Sunday’s loss. Sioux Falls improves to 2-6-1 (2-3-1 NSIC) with the victory. Sunday was a bit of a Homecoming for Head Coach Kyle Halfpop, who was an assistant coach for three seasons under USF Head Coach Brittany Domino.
Minnesota Crookston had two shots on goal on the day. Kiya Gere (So., D, Vancouver, Wash.) secured her first collegiate goal on a beautiful ball from just inside the 18-yard box. Maggie Peterson (Jr., F, Princeton, Minn.) earned the assist on the goal. Sarah Hall (Jr., D, Sammamish, Wash.) had a shot on goal, as well.
Sioux Falls was led by goals from Mckayla Phillippi, Lily McKown, Catie Caruson, and Grace Held. USF garnered assists from Olivia Valdez and Alexis Naujokaitis. Phillippi, McKown, and Held each led Sioux Falls with two shots on goal.
Minnesota Crookston’s Jacqueline Burke (Sr., D/GK, Anchorage, Alaska) held a clean sheet in the second half with one save. Burke made her first appearance in goal for Minnesota Crookston since the 2016 season when she made two appearances in net. Burke originally started her career as a goalkeeper before converting to a field player.
Athena DiMario Done (Jr., GK, Windsor, Ontario) started and allowed four goals with four saves in 37:39 in net. Mika Rodriguez (Sr., MF/F, Laveen, Ariz.) and Katie Emmett (Jr., D, Bohermeen, Ireland) also made brief appearances in goal.
Alexis Wemhoff started for Sioux Falls in net and allowed on goal with no saves in 45 mintues. Brayden Paul played the second half and notched one save.
Sioux Falls started out the scoring in the ninth minute as Valdez found McKown for the goal to put USF ahead 1-0.
The Cougars extended their lead to 2-0 in the 18th minute as Naujokaitis found Phillippi for the goal.
USF would push the lead out to 3-0 in the 20th minute on an unassisted tally from Caruso.
The Golden Eagles had an answer in the 24th minute when Mataya Mierzejewski (So., MF/F, Woodbury, Minn.) played the ball down the left sideline and found Peterson in the corner. Peterson centered the ball and found Gere near the 18-yard box. Gere played a beautiful ball past Wemhoff for her first career collegiate goal.
USF added a fourth goal in the 34th minute as Held found the back of the net.
Minnesota Crookston was able to keep the scoreboard empty in the second half led by solid defending. The Golden Eagles were also able to create opportunity on the Sioux Falls defensive half led by the play of Peterson, Jessica Withrow (Jr., MF/F, Gardnerville, Nev.), Mierzejewski, Vanessa Shelton (Jr., MF/F, Tacoma, Wash.) and Latafale Niumeitolu (Fr., MF, Sandy, Utah).
The Golden Eagles return to action Fri., Oct. 11 at 3 p.m. against University of Mary.
| Box Score | 1st | 2nd | Final |
| UMC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Sioux Falls | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Scoring
8:46 – USF – Lily McKown (Olivia Valdez)
17:19 – USF – Mckayla Philippi (Alexis Naujokaitis)
19:59 – USF – Catie Caruso
23:06 – UMC – Kiya Gere (Maggie Peterson)
33:42 – USF – Grace Held
| Saves | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Athena DiMario Done – UMC | 6 | X | 6 |
| Jacqueline Burke – UMC | X | 1 | 1 |
| Alexis Wemhoff – USF | 0 | X | 0 |
| Brayden Paul – USF | X | 1 | 1 |
