BROOKINGS The South Dakota State soccer team closed out non-conference play with a 2-0 win over Wyoming on Thursday night at Fishback Soccer Park.
The Jackrabbits scored a goal in each half to earn the victory. SDSU was outshot 23-10 on Thursday night and SDSU head coach Brock Thompson said he thought his defense made the difference in the victory.
I thought we defended really well, Thompson said. Wyoming is really good on the counter attack and I thought some of our effort in the moment the ball was lost was exceptional. We got some good goalkeeping at the right time. I also thought when we had the ball we were good.
Neither team scored for the first 39 minutes of the first half. Jenna Maloy then broke the tie in the 40th minute. She stole the ball from a Cowgirl and passed it to Deizha Lyn Jacinto who then gave it back to Maloy and she put it in the back of the net to make it 1-0.
The lead then doubled just three minutes and 41 seconds into the second half. This time it was the Cowgirls who put it into the net as they scored an own goal on a heading attempt to clear it over the goal. That made it 2-0 and that score held the rest of the way despite some chances from Wyoming.
Thompson said his team did a good job of staying patient because they did not have a lot of chances with only two shots on goal.
[Wyoming] gets a lot of numbers behind the ball, so you can have quite a bit of [possession] of the ball, but its hard to get some of the chances that we like to take. You kind of have to wait for the opportunity for a quality chance, and I thought the first goal was a great example of that, Thompson said.
Maloys goal was one of four shots she had in the game but was the only one on goal. Lauren Eckerle had one shot that was on goal. Ellie Gusman had two shots and Lyn Jacinto, Hailee Christensen, Emma Brezenski and Makynlie Cade each had one shot.
Mallorie Benhart played all 90 minutes in net for the Jacks and had eight saves. Kiley Ballek led the Cowgirls with four shots and three of them were on goal. Jennah Wanner and Alyssa Glover each had four shots and two of them were on goal.
The Jacks finished the non-conference portion of the schedule with a record of 6-1-3. They won their final three matches over Drake, Northern Colorado and Wyoming.
Thompson said he got out of non-conference what he had hoped for.
Were a much better team than we were in August. Our schedule has been great. We played a lot of high quality teams. We prepared ourselves but still have a little bit to work on before Summit League play, Thompson said.
SDSU will open Summit League play on Sept. 25 at home against St. Thomas. SDSU was the only team with less than two losses in the non-conference.
Thompson said the Jacks need to be more consistent as they head into conference play.
I think the transition moment, when we recover the ball, is really important. I also think that the defensive intensity is important. It was really good [on Thursday night], but it wasnt as good [against Northern Colorado]. So, really this time of the year, its about consistency and not new things, Thompson said.
Kickoff between the Jackrabbits and Tommies is set for 7 p.m. SDSU will then play at North Dakota on Oct. 2. The Summit League Tournament will be on Nov. 1 and Nov. 9, with the sites to be determined.
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