SDSU enjoys playing at home, but they could probably do without the wind that whips through Brookings this time of year.

While wind was a factor in the match Sunday, a pair of super sophomores helped SDSU withstand both Mother Nature and IPFW to pick up a 3-0 Summit League win at Fishback Soccer Park.

Megan Kingston scored the first two goals of her career and Darci Miller had a goal and an assist each to help the Jacks move to 5-0-1 in Summit League play.
The Jacks would strike first when Kayla Braffet sent a low cross through the box to the waiting foot of Kingston, a transfer from Nebraska-Omaha, who easily tapped it in for a goal in the 22nd minute.

“Hopefully this is just the beginning of things to come for her,” SDSU head coach Lang Wedemeyer said of Kingston. “We knew she had these capabilities, which is why we moved her from midfield to forward.”

SDSU would find the goal for a second time in the 56th minute when Darci Miller was on the receiving end of a through ball from Christa Nyblom, which Miller slipped past IPFW goalkeeper Kristen McFadden, putting the Jacks up 2-0.

Kingston found the net for the second time in the 89th minute, when she fired a right-footed shot from the edge of the box that put the Jacks up by the final margin of 3-0, with Miller assisting.

“It felt really good. I’ve been learning a lot and Lang said to keep running to the ball so I focused on that today,” Kingston said.

With a breeze gusting up to 30 miles per hour from the northwest, it knocked down any ball that tried to hang in the air and affected the game from the start. SDSU generated its offense by working the through ball to its attackers and it led directly to two of the Jacks’ goals.

“The wind definitely makes a difference. It is harder to clear the ball out during a pressure situation and a lot of balls are under hit. It is so windy out so often at Fishback, we have become used to it,” Wedemeyer said.

It proved to be another banner day for the Jackrabbits defense, welcoming Steph Peterson back on to the field after missing time with an injury and goalkeeper Kat Donovan tallying her ninth shutout of the season.

In fact, eight of the Jacks’ nine wins this season have been shutouts and SDSU is in the midst of a 589 minute scoreless streak, dating back to when SDSU relinquished a late goal against North Dakota on Sept. 11. The Jackrabbits also did not give up a shot on goal in the two games over the weekend.

Three conference games remain, with the finale coming on Oct. 29 at home against rival and defending champion NDSU at home.

“We definitely clicked today and hopefully we can stay undefeated and win the conference,” Miller said.

For the SDSU Jackrabbits soccer team last Friday, it was all about seizing the opportunity when it presented itself.

Behind a stellar defensive effort, the Jacks took full advantage of their offensive opportunities en route to a 2-0 victory over Oral Roberts in the Summit League opener for SDSU. With the win, the Jacks improve to 5-5-1 overall and 1-0-0 in the Summit League while Oral Roberts drops to 4-7-1 and 1-1-0.

The first period was reasonably competitive, with both teams attempting the same number of shots (3) and Oral Roberts saving two potential goal opportunities for the Jacks. Senior Kayla Braffet broke the stalemate with a goal in the 34th minute following a crossing pass from fellow senior Danielle Neuhalfen to put the Jacks up 1-0.

The second period was all SDSU as the Jackrabbits outshot

Close games have become a common theme when the SDSU soccer team plays Wisconsin-Green Bay. Sept. 9 wasn’t any different, as the Jacks defeated UW-GB 1-0 with a goal in the 83rd minute.
Senior Kayla Braffet took the ball down the right side of the field and then cut towards the goal, drawing attention from the UW-GB defense. Braffet passed to sophomore Abby Jurgens who beat the goalkeeper and planted the winning goal in the back of the net.
“Yesterday we were working on one vs. one shots against the goalkeeper, and (coach) Lang (Wedemeyer) was constantly telling me to cut in. I was going to shoot, but I definitely didn’t have the shot, then I saw Abby wide open and she rolled it in,” Braffet said.
The last three meetings between the teams have all ended with the same result: a 1-0 Jackrabbit victory.
Head coach Lang Wedemeyer was impressed with UW-GB and commented on their toughness.
“It’s always a hard fought match against Green Bay,” Wedemeyer said. “It’s always come right down to the end of the game and I’m glad our girls came through.”
The game could have ended much differently however, as senior Kat Donovan made a fantastic sliding save in the 61st minute. Donovan’s save was the only shot on goal for UW-GB, and they only managed seven shots for the whole game.
“We have to give credit to Kat Donovan for making that save that kept us in the game. With the exception of that, they did not have very many dangerous chances,” Wedemeyer said.
The Jacks got off plenty of shots of their own: seventeen in all, but only four were registered as shots on goal. Wedemeyer was pleased with the scoring opportunities his team has been creating.
“I think sometimes we’re kind of our own enemy because we always work it up to the attack, and (the problem) is just finishing and we finally got one today,” Jurgens said.
Braffet figured it was just a matter of time before the offensive attack broke through.
“We got that focus and determination that we needed to actually put a shot in the net,” Braffet said.

The Jackrabbits soccer team had a sour start to the season, being outscored eight to three and being shutout three times.
After two well-played matches to start September, the theme is a little sweeter.
SDSU (2-4) pulled off a 1-0 overtime victory over Drake (2-2-1) on Sept. 2 in Des Moines, Iowa and followed that up with a 2-1 loss at Kansas on Sept. 4, at least brightening the mood of the squad as they wrapped up a string of five consecutive road games.
“I think that we’re certainly a work in progress. I think we’ve gotten better each weekend and this last weekend was very good,” SDSU head coach Lang Wedemeyer said.
Stéphanie Bérubé notched the game-winning goal against the Bulldogs after the first 90 minutes elapsed. She was on the spot for the Jacks in the 99th minute when the ball came loose off an SDSU corner and the Canadian junior was able to find the bottom right netting on the rebound. It may have only been a matter of time because SDSU peppered Drake goalkeeper Kalena Litch with 10 shots prior to Berube’s golden goal.
“Drake is a good team on the attack and

On a chilly night, the Summit League Women’s Soccer Championship semifinal was exactly what one would expect between two rivals with identical conference records and similar styles of play.

However, on Nov. 5, North Dakota State topped the Jackrabbits in a shootout, with the Bison besting SDSU 4-3 on penalty kicks after tying in regulation at 1-1 and ending the Jacks season prematurely.

“It’s like the whole rest of our season,” SDSU head coach Lang Wedemeyer said. “Play very well, miss some of our chances, have opportunities to put the game away and it doesn’t happen for us and it bit us in the end.”

SDSU struck first when Kaitlin Justice captured a loose ball that deflected off NDSU goalie Kalani Bertsch. Justice launched a high shot that landed in the upper left corner of the net and the Jacks led 1-0 in the 22nd minute. SDSU finished the first half with strong defense to take the one-goal advantage to intermission.

“It was a great buildup, and we had good numbers in the box and KJ (Kaitlin Justice) was pretty cool and collected in finishing the rebound,” Wedemeyer said.

The Jackrabbits missed their best opportunity early in the second half when Kayla Braffet missed an open net after she beat Bertsch and shot the ball over the net. SDSU struggled to mount quality shots after that, which seemed to give the Bison the boost they needed.

In the 54th minute, Marissa Wolfgram took a free kick after an SDSU yellow card and found a cutting Michelle Gaffaney, who redirected the ball past Jackrabbit keeper Elisa Stamatakis to tie the game.

“It was a free kick, and obviously we tried to crash the net because you never know what will happen in front of the net, and luckily one of our players got to it,” NDSU head coach Pete Cuadrado said.

Both overtimes were played very conservatively, with neither team taking any chances on giving up the game-winning goal. Not a shot was fired in either of the 10-minute overtime periods, and the game remained knotted at 1-1 heading to the shootout.

SDSU led off the shootout with a make by Christa Nyblom but NDSU answered when Wolfgram nailed her attempt. The Bison took the lead after a Jackrabbit miss and Gaffaney found the back of the net. Round three saw both teams’ shooters come up empty when Bertsch and Stamatakis rose to the occasion to keep the shootout at 2-1.

JoLynn Janckila had a huge goal for the Jacks to temporarily tie the shootout until Quin Ryan put NDSU back in front at 3-2 after four rounds. Tory Schiltgen did her part to keep SDSU alive but Abbey Stratton dealt the final blow for the Bison when her shot beat Stamatakis to send NDSU to the finals.

“The girls we chose seemed to be the most consistent, and it’s just heartbreaking when you miss in that situation,” Wedemeyer said.

The Bison, on the other hand, went with their veterans.

“We’ve been keeping track of who has done well in training and we’ve got to go to our veterans,” Cuadrado said. “They are the people who got us here and they’ve got to carry us the rest of the way.”

The Jackrabbits outshot the Bison 15-8, but SDSU was called for offsides four times in the match, stopping a few scoring opportunities. SDSU also took more fouls than NDSU, holding the advantage at 11-5.

“I think we played a very good game, and we had our chances and the girls played very good soccer for the majority of the game,” Wedemeyer said. “We just didn’t finish.”

The Jacks hosted the tournament on its home field for the second consecutive year, and like last season, failed to win the four-team tournament.

“We’re just very proud of [our players] for their efforts, and I think they played a great game tonight and it’s a shame we won’t get to continue. It’s hard to end two years in a row on your home field and not advance,” Wedemeyer said.

SDSU finishes off weekend wins with an 8-1 blasting of Centenary Oct. 31. Kayla Braffet, Kaitlin, Justive, Emily Quigley were part of the scoring for the Jacks.

The play of the SDSU Jackrabbit soccer team was a spooky start to the game on Halloween, but the Jacks quickly stifled any spells that Centenary had conjured together. SDSU fired up their offense, scoring a record-setting seven goals in the second half and rolled to an 8-1 victory over the Ladies on Senior Day at Fishback Soccer Park.

Sluggish play plagued the Jackrabbits early and Allie Cordes was able to capitalize for the Ladies when she looped a right-footed shot over the head of SDSU keeper Elisa Stamatakis in the 21st minute, giving Centenary the early 1-0 lead.

SDSU was able to show some life and evened the game when Darci Miller was taken down inside the box and Kelsey Ferguson won the guessing game on the penalty kick, shooting the ball past Ladies’ goalie Kalyn Harris in the 35th minute. The match went to halftime tied at 1-1.

“It’s just been a little bit of our season,” said SDSU head coach Lang Wedemeyer of the slow start. “We just sometimes come out unfocused and make the game a little harder on ourselves. [The girls] knew they had to focus at the beginning of the game and to their credit, they came back.”

“We tend to play down to other teams and I think we did that a little in the first half,” said SDSU midfielder Emily Quigley. “At halftime, we said “This is too close’ and we knew that we might not get into the tournament.

The Jacks came out of halftime with far more desire and it paid off early in the 48th minute when Courtney Higgins skied over the Centenary defense to head in a cross from Christa Nyblom, putting SDSU in front for the first time in the match, 2-1.

SDSU would not look back from there, scoring four goals in the next seven minutes. Kayla Braffet, Kaitlin Justice, Quigley and Danni Healy would all see their efforts find the back of the net. Before the Ladies realized what had happened, the match was well under control, with the Jackrabbits leading 6-1. The scoring run also ended the day of Harris, who was pulled after Healy’s goal in the 60th minute.

Abby Jurgens picked up her first career goal in the 82nd minute after Danielle Neuhalfen’s shot was stopped and bounced out to Jurgens for the goal. Neuhalfen would pick up a goal of her own when she drilled a free kick into the upper part of the net to cap the scoring at 8-1 in the 87th minute. The seven second-half goals is an SDSU record for goals in a half.

“It’s what we needed. We’ve been having some trouble scoring, so it’s definitely what we needed and I’m proud of the girls for getting it done,” Quigley said.

“To the girls’ credit, they really rose to the occasion in the second half and really played some good soccer,” Wedemeyer said.

The Jackrabbits outshot the Ladies 41-2 in the game, which ties an SDSU record for shots in a game.

Stamatakis played the first 60 minutes and picked up her 11th win of the season for the Jackrabbits. Kat Donovan closed out the final 30 minutes for SDSU and did not face a shot.

SDSU’s win left them tied with North Dakota State and Western Illinois at 6-2-1 in Summit League play. NDSU clinched the #2 seed because they defeated SDSU Oct. 23 and the Jackrabbits came away with the #3 seed because SDSU held the goal differential advantage over WIU in conference play. Oakland clinched the top seed by finishing the season undefeated at 8-0-1.

The Jacks will meet rival NDSU Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. at Fishback Soccer Park in the Summit League Championship semifinals, a matchup that certainly excites SDSU’s players.

“It’s NDSU, so of course we want to beat them, just because of that, but also we are pretty excited to see them again after the loss, and we’re ready,” said Quigley.

#1.1743523:1021498958.png:Tory Schiltgen 11-03-2010 12:Tory Schiltgen evades a Centenary defender Sunday at Fishback Soccer Park. Schiltgen and the Jacks won 8-1 and face NDSU in the first round of the Summit League tournament Saturday.:Collegian Photo

After a tough game against NDSU, the Jackrabbit Soccer Team finds a late-season will to win and manages to win a close match.

In a game where each team desperately needed a win, the SDSU women’s soccer team used a physical attack and out-muscled Summit League rival Oral Roberts to win, 1-0 at Fishback Soccer Park on Oct. 29.

The Jackrabbits controlled the ball for much of the first half but were unable to get off many quality shots. SDSU’s best early effort came after the Jacks were able to dink and dunk near the net and Cori Bonte was able to fire a shot, only to see it fly wide left of the goal in the 31st minute.

SDSU was able to get on the board in the 42nd minute with a gritty effort by Chelsey Poole. She controlled a loose ball in the box and got through ORU’s goalie Amanda Wheeler and two other defenders to muscle the ball into the net. It was Poole’s second goal of the season and gave the Jacks a 1-0 advantage at halftime.

“I was just running in, thinking the ball was just going to drop in behind the first player on our team and I just happened to be there to knock it in,” Poole said.

“We figured that there would be some of those opportunities and we [were] unfortunate to not get one or two more, but to her credit she got in there and made the most of her chance,” said SDSU head coach Lang Wedemeyer.

The Jacks controlled the majority of the second half, not allowing the Golden Eagles to mount any shots that threatened SDSU goalie Elisa Stamatakis’ shutout effort. ORU pushed hard to come up with the equalizer in the waning moments of the game but SDSU safely closed out the 1-0 victory.

“We talked after the NDSU game about how we put ourselves in a tough position and they don’t want to see their season end prematurely. They don’t want to be on the sidelines watching the conference tournament next weekend,” Wedemeyer said.

“We definitely had to put all of our effort into it, considering it is one of our biggest games of the year,” Poole said.

SDSU held the shooting advantage 20-3 in the match. Stamatakis tallied her 10th victory and eighth shutout of the season.

“Oral Roberts is a good team. They’re probably one of the better soccer teams in the conference. They were tough and I thought our girls had a very solid game and it was nice to get that win,” Wedemeyer said.

Poole recognized the importance of finishing the season with a little bit of momentum heading into next weekend’s Summit League Championship Tournament.

“Momentum is a big part of it and we want to be rolling and playing our best soccer heading into the tournament. If we keep that up, I think we’ll be great.”

#1.1743596:2039967733.png:Kayla Braffet 11-03-2010 85:Kayla Braffet battles for ball control against Oral Roberts Oct. 29. The Jacks won 1-0 behind a Chelsey Poole goal in the 42nd minute of play.:Collegian Photo by Aaron Stoneberger

Quin Ryan’s late goal dashed the Jackrabbit soccer team’s hopes of winning Oct. 23 as North Dakota State held off SDSU, 2-1 at the Ellig Sports Complex in Fargo, N.D.

Candice D’Arcangeli scored in the 10th minute for the Bison when the Jacks failed to clear the ball in front of the net. NDSU continued to pepper Jackrabbit goalkeeper Elisa Stamatakis with shots and Stamatakis responded with five first-half saves. SDSU generated very little offense in the first half, being outshot by the Bison, 7-1.

“This was a big game for both teams and they came out more ready. We made a little mistake in the first half and to their credit, they pounced on it,” said SDSU head coach Lang Wedemeyer.

The Jacks played much better in the second half, getting their attack going and generating more shots. SDSU’s efforts paid off in the 74th minute when Cori Bonte was able to punch a deflection off of NDSU goalie Kalani Bertsch into the net, evening the game at 1-1.

“I’m more of a defensive player so I’m not usually up in the box but I saw no one in that area and one of their players mishit it and I was able to shoot it right in,” said Bonte of the tying goal.

The Jackrabbits felt another goal coming on but the Bison caught SDSU with their guard down again as D’Arcangeli streaked down the sideline, bouncing a pass over to Ryan, who was waiting near the left post, tapping in the game-winner. North Dakota State moves to 7-1-0 at home on the season.

“It’s a tough place to play and they do a good job pressuring you and making life difficult and we didn’t respond real well. We hope we have another shot at them in the tournament,” Wedemeyer said.

With the weather taking a much colder turn, Bonte addressed how the team will handle it and how it could potentially affect this weekend’s games in Brookings.

“The wind will be a bit of a factor and we’ll have to take that into account. As coach says though, we can’t really let anything get in our way and we just need to focus on how we’re playing as a team and make sure we execute.”

The loss to NDSU is only the third of the season for the Jackrabbits. It hurts them in the Summit League standings and hinges much of the SDSU’s postseason hopes on Friday’s game against Oral Roberts at Fishback Soccer Park. The final two spots in the conference tournament will come down to SDSU, NDSU, and Oral Roberts, with Oakland and Western Illinois already clinching berths for the championships. The Jacks also host Summit League foe Centenary on Sunday, although they are out of contention.

“We’re putting all of our emphasis and energy on the Oral Roberts game and hopefully we’ll take care of business and then focus on Centenary on Sunday,” Wedemeyer said.