The University of Minnesota Duluth soccer team followed up a tough loss on Friday against Bemidji State with a dominant 4-0 victory against Minnesota Crookston on Sunday. With the win, the Bulldogs' record sits at 4-5-2 overall and 3-3-2 in NSIC conference play.

It didn't take the Bulldogs long to establish a lead in the game that they would never lose. At 4:07, Eliana Maricano scored off of an assist from Jacqueline Jares to give UMD a quick 1-0 advantage . This was Maricano's second goal in as many nights after having entered the weekend without a goal scored this season. This wouldn't be the last time the score sheet would see Jares- in fact, it took just a little under six minutes for her to make another appearance. At 9:51, Jares scored a goal off of assists from Victoria Thorson and Lauren Hansen. This was Jares' fourth goal of the season and her first since September 16. Thorson's assist was her second on the year. Hansen's assist was her first point tallied this season. 

At 13:17, not even four minutes after Jares' goal, an own-goal by Crookston made the score 3-0 UMD. Not even two full minutes removed from that, UMD got on the board once again- and this was a memorable one. Freshman Myra Moorjani scored the first goal of her collegiate career off of an assist from, who else, Jares. This second assist gave Jares a new match season-high in that stat. Pairing those two assists with her goal left Jares with four points, her highest tally since UMD's home-opener against Michigan Tech in which she played the hero with both of the Bulldogs' goals. 

When the smoke settled on an eventful first half, UMD held a 4-0 lead. This is the first time the Bulldogs scored four goals in a match since an October 10, 2021 contest that was also against Crookston, one UMD wound up winning 4-0. It's the first time the Bulldogs have scored four goals in the first half since an October 28, 2016 matchup- also against Crookston. Once again, the Bulldogs won that match 4-0. 

The Bulldogs wouldn't score in the second half, but they maintained their pace offensively. UMD had seven shots in the second half compared to eight in the first. They had the same number of corner kicks, three, in both halves. The Bulldogs were able to keep this tempo despite the fact that they brought out several batches of subs in both halves. Within the second half in particular, Sarah Osborne and Lindsay Wilson each saw action for the first time this season. Each played 18 minutes. In the case of Osborne, a freshman, these were the first 18 minutes of in-game Division II soccer. 

Despite the early deficit, the Golden Eagles didn't go out without a fight. They had four shots in the second frame, all four being shots on goal. Saves were evenly split between two Bulldog goalies, starter Jennifer Norris and substitute Elaina Benson, the latter seeing action for the first time since a match against St. Cloud on September 2. Norris played 68:30, while Benson handled the remaining 21:30. 

If the Bulldogs want to find some kind of point for improvement, they might look at their foul totals in this match. UMD registered 12 total fouls across the match, a new high for the season.

Even with that in mind, it will be hard for the Bulldogs to be too upset with the outcome of this one. UMD closed things out with 15 total shots compared to just four for Minnesota Crookston. The Bulldogs had eight shots on goal compared to just four for the Golden Eagles and six corner kicks to Crookston's two. UMD also led the possession battle 53% to 47%.Their tally of four goals in this match was a new season-high for the club. The Bulldogs also set team season-highs in assists (four) and total points (12). 

Jares, Maricano and Moorjani split the team lead for the Bulldogs in goals with one apiece. Jares had a team-high two assists. For the Golden Eagles, starting goaltender Kathryn Brainerd had three saves while substitute goalie Brooklyn Fischbach had two. 

Head coach Greg Cane was proud of his team's performance, seeing it as his team finally bearing the fruits of labor that started earlier in the weekend. 

"I saw a performance that was a continuation of Friday night's," Cane said. "We played well, we just didn't get any reward on Friday, and that's tough to take. For them to come back today and repeat, I think was really significant for the character of our team." 

Cane also gave kudos to Minnesota Crookston but said that the Bulldogs simply had one of those nights where everything was going their way.

"Our opponent today... really played spirited and played all the way until the end," Cane said. "We were too much for them in the beginning- we came with energy, we came with spirit, we came with ability. We kept the ball, we were dangerous, we seized on mistakes by them. We just did a lot of things right today, and it was really good to see. For us to get the three points today was critical." 

The Bulldogs will hope to keep their momentum rolling into next weekend, which will start with a matchup in Malosky against Concordia-St.Paul on Frday, October 7 on UMD Staff/Faculty Appreciation Day.