Box Score SIOUX FALLS – Remaining unbeaten in conference play, University of Sioux Falls earned a point with a 1-1 draw against MSU Moorhead on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars (2-2-1, 1-0-1 NSIC) now have four points in two games of their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schedule while the Dragons improve to 0-2-1, 0-1-1 NSIC on the season.
Just two minutes after
Lauren LaFavre tested the MSU Moorhead keeper with a shot, Sioux Falls scored their only goal in the 15th minute.
Jackie Montes carried the ball to the touch line and with a hard, low cross, she found
Morgan Lovato, who buried the ball with her left foot for a 1-0 lead. The early score was USF's third goal of the season that came in the first 20 minutes of the contest.
Montes and Lovato continued to pressure the MSUM defense, recording shots in the minutes following USF's goal, but they couldn't add to their lead.
Chessa Novotny added a fifth shot for the Cougars in the first half, but her attempt sailed wide left.
Two minutes after the intermission, MSU Moorhead knotted the game with an equalizer off a rebound from a long serve. Lovato added her third shot in response but it was blocked by a defender.
McKayla Philippi followed shortly after but her attempt was also stopped by a Dragon defender.
The Cougars avoided conceding a second goal when MSUM's counter after a corner kick sailed over the goal in the 65th minute. Philippi helped the Cougars earn a corner kick when her shot was blocked and went out on the end line.
Lindsey Powers's service found the head of Lovato, but her redirection in the 83rd minute was again blocked by a defender.
For USF's final scoring chance in regulation,
Claire Radatz's shot from distance was safely corralled by the MSUM keeper. In the final minute, the Dragons mustered two shots, but the first was blocked and USF goalkeeper
Morgan Perkins saved the other.
In the first overtime period, Lovato recorded USF's only shot, which missed wide of the frame. MSUM had two shots in the first overtime, but Perkins was up to task on the only attempt on frame.
Nearing the completion of the game, Perkins came up big one more time, making a diving stop in the 107th minute on a header from inside the six-yard box. USF's final scoring chance was LaFavre's 109th minute shot that missed just left of the goal.
The Cougars close their three-game home stand with a 1 p.m. game against Northern State on Sunday, Sept. 17 at the USF Sports Complex.
