The University of Mary women's soccer team beat Highway 83 rival Minot State 4-1 Thursday at the MDU Resources Community Bowl in Bismarck, clinching the program's first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular-season championship, per UMary Athletics.
The Marauders share the title with Minnesota State. Both finished 12-1-2 in league play with 38 points, according to the NSIC standings. Minnesota State gets the No. 1 seed in the NSIC tournament because it beat UMary 3-0 in the second game of the conference season, per UMary Athletics. The NSIC also cites the head-to-head result as the tiebreaker. That makes the Marauders the No. 2 seed.
How it went
UMary drew a penalty 72 seconds in. Dina Polanco, whom UMary Athletics calls the NSIC's leading scorer, converted it into the bottom left corner at 1:12, per the official box score.
Freshman Alex Guinn made it 2-0 at 24:23 with a header off a corner kick from Ivy Wessel. Minot State cut the lead in half at 44:11 when Elsa Duquesne scored on a penalty kick.
UMary put the game away early in the second half. Polanco scored from distance at 55:30, and junior Harlee Peltz added a header at 61:32 off an assist from senior Chloe Brand. The two goals give Polanco 20 this season, according to UMary's season statistics.
According to the box score, UMary outshot Minot State 19-10, put nine shots on goal to Minot State's four and won the corner count 7-4. Kadyn Dilger played all 90 minutes in goal for UMary and made three saves. Minot State goalkeeper Jayen Alger made five.
The season so far
- UMary ends the regular season 13-2-3 overall and 12-1-2 in the NSIC, per the conference standings.
- The Marauders are unbeaten in their last 13 games, per UMary Athletics. The NSIC standings list a seven-game winning streak.
- Minot State finished 6-9-3 overall and 5-7-3 in league play.
Next up
UMary hosts No. 7 seed Bemidji State in the NSIC opening round on Monday, Nov. 2, with kickoff at 4 p.m. at the MDU Resources Community Bowl, per UMary Athletics. UMary beat Bemidji State 2-0 on Sept. 27 in the teams' only meeting this season.
The winner advances to the semifinals to face the winner of No. 3 Minnesota Duluth vs. No. 6 Augustana. The highest remaining seed hosts the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 6 and the championship on Sunday, Nov. 8, according to the NSIC. The tournament champion earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II Central Region tournament.
Sources:
- UMary Athletics game recap: result, title share, seeding, tournament matchups
- Official box score: scoring times, shots, saves, corners
- UMary women's soccer schedule: results and the Nov. 2 opening round
- NSIC women's soccer standings: final league and overall records
- NSIC tournament bracket release: seeds, tiebreaker, tournament format
- UMary women's soccer statistics: Polanco's season goal total