Lady Jackets Cruise in Exhibition Match (8/20/05)
Box Score

BILLINGS, MT – Five first half goals—including a hat trick from Alyssa Wolfer—lifted Montana State-Billings to an easy 5-0 women’s soccer victory over North Idaho College in an exhibition game on Saturday.  Wolfer, a junior forward from Longmont, CO, found the net three times in the first 15:25, and the Yellowjacket defense held the Cardinals to just three shots in the game.

“We played really well through the midfield and that opened up a lot of things for the attack,” said Wolfer.  “[Each goal] just had perfect passes coming in.  I guess I was just in the right place at the right time.  It was definitely a team effort.”

Wolfer broke the Jackets into the scoring column just 5:25 into the game, scoring from directly in front of the net.  Amy Stephens (So., Colorado Springs, CO) made a precise throw-in to a streaking Ally Stroup (Ojai, CA), who crossed to Wolfer in the box.  Wolfer scored again at 12:31 and 15:25 on assists from Jenny Mollendorf (Jr., Green River, WY) and Mandy Ploskonka (Fr., Federal Way, WA) respectively.

“Alyssa had a very good game today,” said head coach Don Trentham.  “Any time you score a hat trick in 15 minutes, that’s impressive.  The key for her will be to stay consistent with that.  I think today was very positive.  We have players that have never played college soccer before.  We got to look at several different lineups and personnel.  We were able to work on things we’ve worked on the past couple weeks.”

The Yellowjacket defenders kept the Cardinals at bay the entire game.  Goalkeepers Megan Plank (Jr., Phoenix, AZ) and Anita Renemans (Fr., Casper, WY) pitched a shutout without facing a shot on goal.

MSU Billings went up 4-0 on a Stroup goal.  Ploskonka sent a nice pass through the middle to Stroup, who fired from the left side of the box and beat the keeper to the right at 27:01.  Moellendorf wrapped up the scoring at 41:51, scoring on a pass from Katie Ginther (Fr., Puyallup, WA).

“We found out what’s going well and what weaknesses we still need to work on,” Trentham said.  “It’s always great to have 18 players get some experience like we did today.  From here on out, every game counts.  Mistakes cost more in the regular season and the goals you score in the regular season mean a lot more than in the exhibition.”

The Yellowjackets open the regular season next week with a three game swing through Colorado.  They begin with a game at Colorado State-Pueblo on August 26.  That game will be followed by games at Fort Lewis on August 28 and at Mesa State on August 30.  Their official home opener will be September 3 when they host Adams State in the first game of the Fourth Annual MSU Billings Cup.  The Jackets will host Heartland Conference opponent St. Mary’s on September 5.