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Bears ignite for four
The Northern Colorado women’s soccer team showed Sunday just how explosive its offense can be in a 4-2 victory at home over South Dakota.
For a team that scored just three goals in its first seven games, the Bears (3-5-2) have found their offense to the tune of eight goals in their last three matches. The team is unbeaten in that stretch (2-0-1).
“Regardless of who you’re playing, it’s always good to score goals like we did today,” Northern Colorado coach Tim Barrera said. “I wish we could have finished a bit better, but overall, I thought we created some good goals with some good passes.”
Senior forward Ariel Cook led the offensive explosion for the Bears, as she came up with four points on the day.
Cook opened up the scoring for the Bears in just the fourth minute of play. She earned herself a penalty kick after being fouled on a breakaway in the box. The forward calmly buried a shot past Coyotes goalkeeper Mackenzie Viktor to give the Bears an early lead.
South Dakota (0-6-2) answered back quickly though, as Rachel Greene scored just 40 seconds after Cook’s goal. Greene beat Northern Colorado keeper Kirstin Salminen on a shot from 20 yards out that sailed into the lower-left corner.
The action continued to come in flurries, with the Bears once again finding the back of the net in the 11th minute when JJ Wykstra earned her second goal of the season. Madison Yoswa found Wykstra with a low cross that landed in front of the goal. Wykstra knew what to do with the ball from there, as she pounded it past Viktor.
Once again though, the Coyotes proved to be pesky, as they got level in the 26th minute on a goal from Jenny Teslow. Her chance came off a nicely placed through-ball from Lauren Bennett that put Teslow through the defense.
Just minutes later, the final goal of a hectic first half was scored after Cook found Kimmie Feidler with a quick pass. Feidler ripped a shot from the top of the box that beat Viktor to the upper-right corner.
Compared to the first half, the second half was relatively sedate as both teams battled to get the upper-hand. Finally, in the 87th minute, Danielle Birdsall joined the scoring frenzy after receiving a creative flick off the head of Cook. Birdsall found herself with a one-on-one chance against Viktor and didn’t waste the opportunity as she buried the ball into the back of the net.
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