GIRLS SOCCER: Moorhead scores early, beat Bemidji 5-1
MOORHEAD – The Bemidji girls soccer team let Moorhead strike early Thursday night.
The Spuds scored two goals in the first 10 minutes against the Lumberjacks, and that proved to be all they’d need, winning 5-1 to sweep the season series from Bemidji.
“They scored those two goals and got all the momentum right away,” Bemidji head coach Kelly Schoonover said.
The Spuds (7-5-1) scored two minutes in on a strike from Rebecca Hakk, then scored six minutes later on a shot from Bianca Clark.
They would score twice more in the first half – at 18 minutes and 24 minutes in – and before the Lumberjacks (7-6) knew it, they were down 4-0.
They got on the board late in the first half when Emily Boyer took a corner kick that deflected off a Moorhead player and went in.
But by then, it was almost too little, too late.
Schoonover said at halftime she told her team to try and keep the Spuds scoreless.
“We were slow and flat-footed in the first half,” he said. “So our goal in the second half was to try and keep them off the scoreboard and put more offensive pressure on them.”
The Spuds did score once more, in the game’s 42nd minute, but for the most part Schoonover said her team did well.
“We looked a lot better in the second half,” she said. “We moved some players around and tried some different things formation-wise that worked pretty well.”
In all, the Spuds outshot the Jacks 24-10. Cassidy Morris started in goal and made nine saves while Casey Palmer worked the second half and made nine saves of her own.
Moorhead goalkeeper Emily Nord also made nine saves on the evening for the Spuds.
The Lumberjacks return next week for their final regular-season game at home when they host Crookston Tuesday, Oct. 1. They’ll have plenty of time to prepare this weekend, as Bemidji has their first weekend off since August.
“It will be nice for the girls to enjoy a little break,” Schoonover said. “We haven’t had a Saturday off in a long time.”
Moorhead 5, Bemidji 1
Bemidji 1 0 – 1
Moorhead 4 1 – 5
Scoring
First Half
M – Hakk (J. Borgan), 2:00
M – Clark (Setter), 8:00
M – Wilmar, 18:00
M – Setter, 34:00
B – Boyer, 28:00
Second Half
M – Riveland (B. Borgan), 42:00
