NDSU Soccer Ends Season With Tough OT Loss in Semifinals

The Bison gave everything they had, it just wasn’t enough. Despite a solid performance, the No. 3-seeded NDSU soccer team could not overcome two Rachel Good goals in a heartbreaking overtime loss to No. 2-seeded Fort Wayne in the Summit League semifinals, losing 2-1.

Good prevented the Bison from advancing to their third straight title appearance with her game-winner with only 0:40 remaining in the first overtime period.

“We battled really hard today, we competed, and we gave it everything we had,” NDSU head coach Mark Cook said. “We got down and tied the game. I’m a proud coach today. I’m disappointed we lost, but this group is fantastic.”

Both teams came out aggressive, firing shots at every angle. The Bison defended off a total of 36 shots in the game. Great defensive plays from senior defenders Shannon Brooks and Holly Christian early in the game kept the score scoreless.

Good finally got some points on the board with her first goal in the 65th minute. NDSU sophomore Anisha Kinnarath responded immediately with a tremendous goal just three minutes later. Just outside the corner of the box, Kinnarath shot a great long-ranger into the top right corner of the goal.

“There’s not a lot of quit in this team,” Cook said. “They believed in what they were doing and were working hard in training and that carries over to the game field. It’s all about attitude and never quitting and that’s what we did all year.”

Both the Bison and Fort Wayne looked on the verge of scoring again in the 80th minute but shots from Good and NDSU’s Tristyn Walczak were wide left by narrow margins.

Bonham, who set the NDSU single-season record by averaging 6.29 saves per game this season and finished No. 2 on the all-time single-season list at NDSU with 107 total saves, kept the Bison breathing with her diving save off a Fort Wayne header in the 96th minute.

But Good finally found a hole past Bonham late in overtime. Good received a great pass on the run and snuck the shot past Bonham, advancing them to the Summit League title game against Oakland and ending NDSU’s season.

“This is something to build on,” Cook said. “Being as young as we are … and having a lot of kids getting minutes this year that they probably wouldn’t have with an older team and I think the experience we’re going to have next year, we’re looking forward to it.”

The Bison finished their season with an overall record of 8-10 and a Summit League record of 5-3.

Quotes courtesy of GoBison.com