The University of Minnesota Duluth soccer team battled through 90 minutes against Augustana on a chilly Sunday afternoon at Malosky Stadium, ultimately losing 2-0 from two late goals from the Vikings.

The two Augustana goals came just three minutes and eleven seconds apart, with the first goal at the 81:06 mark and the second goal coming at 84:17. The first goal came as Augustana's Josie Arduser beat the Bulldogs' Jennifer Norris, who came out of the box to try to defend the ball. Three minutes later, the Vikings were able to take advantage of a defensive mix-up in the box to double their lead.

Jennifer Norris made just her second career start -- and first at Malosky Stadium -- in Sunday afternoon's game, playing all 90 minutes. Norris made nine saves on the day in an impressive performance.

The Vikings have been offensively prolific this season, averaging 2.49 goals per game so far this season -- good for second in the conference. The Bulldogs defense was able to stifle their front line for the first half and well into the second before giving up the two goals. Augustana ended the game with 11 shots on goal to UMD's six. 

Eliana Marciano led the team today with two shots on goal. Julia Osborne, Jackie Jares, Holly Kaboord, and Baamlak Haugen all added a shot on goal for the Bulldogs as well. Kaboord has continued to anchor the back line this season, playing in all 90 minutes of today's game along with Kirsten Dagel.

"I was really proud of the team today," said Head Coach Greg Cane after the game. "We had a game plan for the weekend and it worked well all the way around. We had a game plan today for one of the most dangerous teams in the league and it worked for 81 minutes. More importantly, it worked for the first half in diminishing their scoring opportunities."

"We knew we were going to be under pressure, and you have to survive that pressure, and that's exactly what happened in the first half. It made us comfortable and we started finding the ball a little bit there at the end. In the second half, it was about just trying to tighten up what we were doing and we did that. We started finding the ball a little bit more and started to be more dangerous with it. We were settling in and it was clear they were getting uncomfortable and that was part of our game plan."

Goalkeeper Jennifer Norris agreed: "I felt that our team did really well managing against Augie--they're a great team. I think all the way up until the first goal, we managed it really well."

The Bulldogs will have one final home game this year this coming Friday, October 29 against MSU-Moorhead. The team will celebrate Senior Day at the game. UMD will close out the season with two road games, at Northern State and St. Cloud State. Friday's kickoff is set for 6:00 PM.