Despite a flurry of second half attacks by senior forward Tasia Murray, the USF women's soccer team fell on the road Monday night to Minot State University 2-1 at Herb Parker Stadium.
The Cougars fell to 5-10-1 overall while the Beavers improved their record to 9-7.
On the road, USF is 2-7 and has not won away from USF Field since a 2-0 result at Southwest Minnesota State on September 28.
There was a big difference statistically between the two teams on offense in the first half, as the Beavers fired off 10 shots compared to one for the Cougars.
The match was scoreless until the 42:04 mark, when Minot's Zoe Fisher broke free of her marker and shot a low ball past Cougar keeper Samantha Maybon for her first tally of the season. The Beavers continued to keep the Cougar offense at bay and would carry the 1-0 lead into halftime.
A reenergized Cougar team took the field in the second stanza. In the 51st minute, Tasia Murray collected her own rebound and overpowered the Minot keeper for her sixth goal of the season.
The tie would not hold, however, as the Beavers responded 70 seconds later when Fisher scored her second goal on a chipped shot that sailed over the goalie's head.
The Cougars battled until the final minute of the match, firing eight second half shots in the direction of Minot keeper Ashley Barzcewski but were unable to net the equalizer.
Murray recorded seven of the Cougars' nine shots on goal. She now has 27 career goals and is only two goals shy of tying the career goal record at USF (Amy Svoboda, 29).
Maybon faced 17 shots and tallied six saves in the loss. The Cougars were out-shot by the Beavers in the match by a 17-9 margin. The Beavers also held a 5-3 edge in total corner kicks.
The Cougars wrap up the 2011 campaign at home this weekend with the USF Classic, a NCAA D-II transitional tournament that is being hosted by both the USF men's and women's soccer teams. The women open tournament play with a Friday rematch against Minot State (6:00 p.m.) and will close out the season on Sunday against the University of Winnipeg (1:00 p.m.).
