Freshman midfielder
Olivia Thompson scored two first-half goals to propel Wayne State in a 2-0 Northern Sun Conference women's soccer victory Friday afternoon over Minot State at the WSC Soccer Pitch. The Wildcats improve to 4-5-1 and 3-3-1 in the NSIC while the visiting Beavers drop to 2-7-1 and 1-5-1 in conference play.
The Wildcats opened the scoring midway through the first period as Thompson took a lob pass from
Madilyn Schmeling and booted the ball past the Minot State goalkeeper from the left side of the penalty kick area to give Wayne State a 1-0 lead.
Less than 10 minutes later at the 33:38 mark Thompson found the back of the net again as she sailed a shot from the far left side of the goal over the head of Minot State goalkeeper Rebecca Sargent into the top right corner of the goal for a 2-0 Wayne State lead.
WSC ended the first half with a 7-6 edge in shots over the Beavers but Minot State had a 2-1 edge in corner kicks.
Despite neither team scoring in the second half, Wayne State controlled the half thanks to a 9-3 advantage in shots and 7-1 in corner kicks as the Wildcats closed the match with a 2-0 shutout win.
Wayne State outshot Minot State 16-9 including 6-5 in shots on goal. WSC also held an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks while Minot State was called for one more foul than the 'Cats 6-5.
Thompson scored her first two goals of the season to lead the 'Cats with two shots on goal. Junior forward
Morgan Mancuso contributed four shots with two on goal while
Paige Nichols and
Briella Thompsen were each credited with shots on goal.
Junior goalkeeper
Alexa Hofstetter recorded her third shutout of the season thanks to five saves in the contest.
The Wildcats will be at home again Sunday afternoon hosting the University of Mary in a 1 p.m. contest at the WSC Soccer Pitch.
