St. Cloud State outlasts MSU-Moorhead, 2-1

Sunday, September 24

St. Cloud, Minn.

1:00 p.m.

St. Cloud State

4-4-0, 2-3-0NSIC

Minnesota State University Moorhead

1-4-2, 1-3-1NSIC

MSU Moorhead

St. Cloud State

Junior Maria Kass scored her team-leading second goal of the season in Sunday's win.

9/24/2017 3:21:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Huskies complete perfect conference weekend, run NSIC win streak to two

By: Ryan Evans

ST. CLOUD—After staking itself to a 2-0 lead through 74 minutes, the St. Cloud State soccer team (4-4-0, 2-3-0 NSIC) held off a late MSU-Moorhead (1-4-2, 1-3-1) charge for a 2-1 win on Sunday that capped a perfect weekend of conference play and ran its win streak to two games.

The victory is the Huskies' 19th-straight over the Dragons. SCSU is now unbeaten (24-0-1) in 25 all-time meetings with MSUM.

After snapping its four-game goalless skid on Friday at Northern State, St. Cloud State notched another multi-goal effort to power itself past the Dragons. Sophomore midfielder Brooke Bares was integral to the attacking effort, providing the assist for both sophomore midfielder Kelli Santo Paulo's 35th minute goal from a corner and junior forward Maria Kass's 75th minute strike with a well-placed through ball.

"We were able to string passes together," junior defender Maria Witte said. "We played really together, finally got our chances up top and were able to finish them."

Santo Paulo's goal was her first of the season and Kass's was her second, which is tied for the team lead.

After the Huskies built their two-goal advantage, MSU-Moorhead capitalized on a chance with just over seven minutes to play to draw within one. The Dragons' goal was part of a run of sustained pressure that they sustained until final whistle. MSUM out-shot SCSU, 4-1, over the game's 17 minutes, but the defense stood strong to preserve the win.

"They definitely had a lot of fight," Witte said, "but we knew if we kept it at our feet and kept it away from them that we could control the game and come out on top."

Both teams created 10 shots in the match, though the Huskies enjoyed a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Christian stopped two shots, including one in the decisive second half, to earn her third win of the season.

St. Cloud State begins a three-game conference road swing next weekend at Upper Iowa and Winona State. The Huskies will meet the Peacocks on Friday, September 29, at 3 p.m., and the Warriors on Sunday, October 1 at 1 p.m.

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