GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota's Emma Bangert scored her first goal of the season in the 89th minute to hand South Dakota a 2-1 loss on Thursday afternoon at Bronson Field in the Summit League opener for both teams.
The Fighting Hawks' (7-3-1, 1-0 in Summit) victory snapped a two-match losing streak entering the day, while South Dakota (5-7, 0-1 Summit) dropped its second straight one-goal decision after falling 1-0 at Kansas City last Sunday.
North Dakota's Mimi Eiden dribbled up the field past Coyote defenders in the 22nd minute and netted her sixth goal of the year, good for third place among all Summit League players, past South Dakota goalkeeper
Emma Harkleroad for the early lead.
Less than a minute later, South Dakota had an opportunity to strike, as
Makenzie Burmeister had her shot snatched out of the air by Fighting Hawks goalkeeper Catherine Kline. Kline snagged four saves in the victory.
In the 59th minute, Harkleroad blocked a penalty kick from North Dakota's Olivia Knox set up by a foul in the box. The keeper was unable to corral the hard shot but quickly blocked the rebounded shot a split-second later, one of her five saves on the afternoon which kept South Dakota within striking distance.
Alexis Mitchell found more late-match heroics in the 88th minute. Mitchell fired a penalty kick to the right side of the net, beating Kline for her team-leading fourth goal of the season and knotting the match at 1-1 with under three minutes remaining in regulation.
Just over a minute later, however, Bangert launched a shot to the right side of the goal; although Harkleroad was there to get a hand on the attempt, the ball bounced off her hands and into the back of the net for the decisive goal at the 88:18 mark.
The Coyotes continue their three-game road swing on Sunday, as they face the North Dakota State (5-4-1) at 1 p.m. The contest will be the Bison's first Summit League matchup of the season, as they have been off since dropping a 3-2 decision in their non-conference finale at Utah Valley last Saturday evening.
