Box Score A goal in the 85th minute broke up a game seemingly destined for overtime as the University of Minnesota Duluth dropped its season opener to Southwest Baptist University 1-0 on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Missouri on Friday night.

A lightning delay of over an hour stopped the game in the 87th minute, but despite a late charge by the No. 8-ranked Bulldogs (0-1-0), UMD fell to the Bearcats (1-0-0), a fellow NCAA Central Regional tournament selection from 2013, by the thinnest of margins.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Southwest Baptist sophomore Elin Hammar netted the lone score of the game in the 84th minute. She was assisted by first-year midfielder Whitney Snow.
• Redshirt freshman Jordan Melby started between the pipes for the first time in her career, stopping the first shot she faced just six minutes into the match. She finished with four saves on the day.
• Senior forward Maureen Stormont led the way with five shots on the night, while senior midfielder Jennifer Smith had the best chance with a shot that ran along the goal line in the second half.
• Junior forward Sheridan Reiners and first-year forward Taylor Johnson also got the first playing time of their Bulldog careers, each collecting a shot in the match.

GAME RECAP
Southwest Baptist started the game on the offensive, holding the ball down in the Bulldog end but had chances stymied by three offside calls in the match's first 15 minutes. The Bearcats continued the chippiness exhibited in their 2013 NCAA Central Regional match at Malosky Stadium, drawing seven fouls in the opening frame with UMD taking four of its own. Melby stopped both shots on goal she faced in the half, while the offense was held to just two shots, each by senior midfielder Hannah Keil in the first 45. Keil nearly gave the Bulldogs a halftime lead but hit a crossbar in the 44th minute, sending the teams to the locker room scoreless.

The offense was back-and-forth to start the second half, with senior defender Kelli Klun lining a pair of shots just wide in the opening minutes of the break. The Bulldogs would meet SBU's seven shots when senior forward Maureen Stormont got her name on the stat sheet in the 63rd minute. Drama followed a Keil corner kick as the Bearcats' bench was issued a yellow card, and momentum shifted in the Bulldogs favor as Stormont and senior defender Megan Helberg each had a shot on net stopped by SBU junior 'keeper Cheyenne Forshey. Despite the trend, the Bearcats would break through first with sophomore Elin Hammar slipping behind a forward Bulldog defense and taking a breakaway shot to the lower right corner of the net to give Southwest Baptist the lead with just five minutes remaining. UMD continued to pressure, taking seven corner kicks in the second half. A pair of headers by Stormont and freshman forward Taylor Johnson were blocked by the defense, and saved by Forshey, respectively, before a lightning delay stopped the match with just under three minutes remaining.

The game concluded in the rain after a 90-plus minute weather delay with a wild finish, including a second yellow card assessed to the chippy SBU team. UMD continued its pressure but came up just short as a final shot by Katie Schneider off a Hannah Keil corner kick barely missed crossing the goal line. Forshey, like Melby, came away with four saves on the night.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs continue action in Missouri on Sunday afternoon as they take on the hosts from the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. That match is set for 1:00 p.m.