With the game being postponed, the University of Minnesota Duluth came in to today knowing that all they needed was a win to clinch the last Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference playoff spot. All looked good for the Bulldogs in the opening 15 minutes but the unbeaten Bemidji State University crawled back to force a 2-2 tie with UMD. The Bulldogs, who hold the tie-breaker over St. Cloud State University for the eighth and final playoff spot, still control their destiny.
UMD (9-5-3, 6-5-3 NSIC) held its annual senior day today to honor forward
Skye Finley, defender
Emily Fleissner, forward
Hailey Hoff, and defender Anna Morrision. Each senior got the nod in the starting lineup and they didn't disappoint.
Finley scored 1:58 into the match then tallied her second at the 14:13 mark to lift the Bulldogs to a 2-0 lead. The Beavers were on their heels and Finley struck quickly. UMD gained control and rushed up the field. Hoff got the ball and played it back to sophomore midfielder
Maddie Milbrath who found Finley. The native of Forest Lake Minn., turned and booted the ball to the bottom left corner past the Beavers' Catherine Arneson. She later squeezed past a pair of defensemen and forced Arneson to turn the ball over to her and she popped in her team-leading seventh goal.
UMD seemingly had control of the game. Sporting a 2-0 lead and much of the ball control in the first half, it found a way to stifle the United Soccer Coaches No. 15 ranked team. That all changed in a span of 58 seconds. Miranda Famestad and Allyson Smith scored on back-to-back shot attempts to deadlock the game at two going into the half. BSU (13-0-3, 11-0-3) outworked the Bulldogs in the second half leading 12-3 in the shot department. Junior goalkeeper
Sisley Ng (8-5-1) made a career-high 11 saves to keep UMD even with the Beavers.
The Bulldogs wrap up the 2017 regular season at the University of Minnesota Crookston. That Sunday bout will take place at 1:00 p.m. UMD can win tomorrow and clinch or it can tie and have the Huskies tie or lose as well. If SCSU losses tomorrow, the Bulldogs automatically advance to postseason play for the second consecutive year.
