Oct. 14, 2007

Box Score

FARGO, ND - NJIT freshmen Kori Washington and Christi Taylor connected for the first goal of the game at 3:43, but North Dakota State answered with three first-half goals from its own freshman, Quin Ryan, and went on to a 3-1 non-conference women's soccer win over the Highlanders Sunday afternoon.

Washington got control of the ball in traffic and put a quick shot past Bison goalkeeper Monica Morgan in the fourth minute.

Ryan, who had two previous goals, scored three times in a 20-minute span in the first half on Sunday. She began the natural hat trick at 13:08, added the second goal at 24:17 and then closed things out at 32:42.

Four different players had assists for the Bison. Lorraine Thompson assisted on the first goal; Abbey Stratton and Ashley Chandler set up the second goal; and, Patty Romeo helped out on the third.

Morgan, the starting goalkeeper for North Dakota State, made three saves after being beaten by Washington. And Jessica Nei came on for the final 15:02, making one save.

Sadie Mele started and went all the way in the NJIT goal, stopping nine of the 12 shots on goal that she faced. Mele made seven of her saves without allowing a goal over the last 45 minutes.

Ryan's first goal came after some one-on-one moves and the go-ahead goal came on a rebound off of a header.

The win was the fifth in the row for North Dakota State, which stands 10-4 on the year.

Before the 2007 season, NJIT coach Alyssa Radu noted that a lot of her team's games were rematches of games from 2006, when the Highlanders faced their first schedule of Division I opponents.

One such opponent was North Dakota State, which overwhelmed the Highlanders, 7-0, in the 2006 season finale in Newark on October 30. On that day, the Bison poured in four goals in the last 20 minutes against a worn-down NJIT squad that had just three subs compared to six for the visitors. Indeed all four second-half North Dakota State goals were scored by non-starters.

In this year's rematch, the Highlanders traveled cross country to North Dakota and came away with a significantly improved result against a strong opponent. Contrasted with last year's second half, NJIT played the Bison to a 0-0 stalemate over the last 45 minutes.

NJIT will take another long trip for its next game, visiting Orem, Utah, for a contest against Utah Valley on Friday at 3 pm Mountain Time. The game in Utah is the second United Soccer Conference match for the Highlanders, who are in their first year as conference members.

The Utah Valley game completes a stretch that will have seen the Highlanders play eight straight matches away from home. NJIT, which last played a home game on September 19, returns to Lubetkin Field on Wednesday, October 24, at 7 pm in a USC match against Howard.

(goal descriptions courtesy of North Dakota State Media Relations)