Wildcats soccer experienced both sides of competition this weekend against the University of Mary Marauders and the Minot State Beavers, winning one away game and losing the other.

 
Saturday’s game was played against the University of Mary on the pitch in Bismarck, N.D. The final score was 4-3, the ladies ending the game victorious in double overtime.

 
Wildcat midfielder Suenly Galvez, a sophomore, took and scored a shot just past the five minute mark. Unfortunately, the Marauders immediately turned it around and took two shots at the Wildcats goal in quick succession, the first saved by goalie Kylie Comba, the second going in as the first point of the game.

 
“The girls kept it competitive,” head coach Bruce Erickson said. “[It] was probably our best match in a lot of ways.”

 
A ferocious back-and-forth game of missed shots and fouls for both teams continued, until Karlee Hall managed to sneak a header into the Marauders’ goal with an assist from Kelsey Engstrom, tying the game 1-1. Shortly after, Valerie Hernandez scored her second goal of the season to put the Wildcats ahead 2-1 going into halftime.

 
The Marauders quickly evened out the score in the second period, but WSC got the lead back within five minutes, when Engstrom scored with an assist from freshman Christina Stasi. A header goal tied up the game at 3-3 and pushed it into overtime.

 
Within a minute of starting the second overtime period, Stasi scored a goal to end the game 4-3 as a Wildcats win.

 
Against Minot State on Sunday, the ladies attempted to keep the momentum from their previous victory through the weekend.

 
The game concluded in a Wildcats loss as the Beavers managed to slip a single shot into the goal six minutes into double overtime, ending the game 0-1.

 
The ladies struggled to gain offensive momentum, failing to even attempt a shot on the goal until the first overtime period.
“We just didn’t have anything left in the tank, offense-wise,” Erickson said.

 
Their defense was strong, as Minot State took fourteen shots and failed to score at all. Coach Erickson praised the performances of defenders Josie Brown, Natalie Poppy, Alexis Struthers, and Karlee Hall, along with the goalie.

 
Comba made seven saves and forced the game into overtime with the score at 0-0.

 
The first overtime period was largely uneventful, as the Wildcats kept the Beavers out of shooting range, eventually enabling Stasi to take a shot at the Beavers goal with less than a minute left in the period. Unfortunately, the shot was saved and saw the game go into another overtime period.

 
Beginning this period saw the Beavers taking four shots on the goal in rapid succession, but a corner kick created a scramble for the Wildcats that led to the Beavers sneaking a header shot in at the six minute mark.

 
The Wildcats finished the weekend with a record of 3-10-3 on the season and 3-9-3 in league play.

 
“It was a good weekend,” Erickson said. “We’ve got a lot to build on. We came out of it healthy and are going into this weekend with the goal of winning two games.”