Marion, Murphy rally Huskies to 2-1 OT win over SMSU

Sunday, October 15

St. Cloud, Minn.

2:00 p.m.

St. Cloud State

7-7, 5-6NSIC

Southwest Minnesota State University

0-13, 0-11NSIC

OT 2

SMSU

St. Cloud State

Kate Murphy's overtime goal was her second game-winner of the weekend for the Huskies.

Photo by: Tom Nelson

10/15/2017 4:15:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

St. Cloud State caps perfect NSIC weekend with overtime victory

By: Ryan Evans

ST. CLOUD—After trailing by a goal late in the game, the St. Cloud State soccer team (7-7-0, 5-6-0 NSIC) capped a furious rally with an overtime winner courtesy of freshman forward Kate Murphy to down Southwest Minnesota State (0-13-0, 0-11-0), 2-1, on Sunday.

The win is the Huskies' second in a row and vaults them to 15 points, which is good for ninth place in the NSIC. SCSU is two points back of eighth place Minnesota Duluth for the final conference tournament spot with four games to play.

Murphy's overtime tally, which came just under five and a half minute into the extra period, was her second game-winning strike of the weekend and resulted from a standout individual effort. The Wauwatosa, Wis., native picked up the ball 30 yards out, dribbled into space, put a move on a Mustangs defender and tucked the game-winner just past the goalkeeper on the near post.

SMSU opened the scoring in the 11th minute, which put the Huskies in an early 1-0 hole that they carried into halftime. Needing a goal, SCSU altered its formation in the second half to allow for more attacking pressure. It paid off with a flurry of chances as the Huskies racked up 15 shots and seven chances on goal over the final 45 minutes of regulation.

"Their goal put us down a little," Murphy said. "But we came together at halftime and said we had to play our game. In the second half we worked together to overcome them."

The offensive momentum finally paid dividends in the 84th minute when sophomore forward Hannah Marion volleyed home a cross from junior forward Kylie Cleary to level the score at one and set up Murphy's overtime heroics.

SCSU finished with a commanding 24-6 and 12-3 edges in shots and chances on target, respectively in the contest. The Huskies out-shot the Mustangs, 4-0, in overtime. Sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Christian made two saves to earn her sixth win of the season

In search of valuable points in the standings, St. Cloud State goes on the road for a pair of league matches next weekend at Wayne State and Augustana. The Huskies will meet the Wildcats on Saturday, October 21 at 1 p.m., and the Vikings on Sunday, October 22 at 1 p.m. Soccer fans can watch both contests on the NSIC app, which is available for download on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon TV and Android TV.

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