Lady Yellowjackets Open Season in Minnesota This Weekend (Aug. 25, 2004)
BILLINGS, MT – The Montana State-Billings
women’s soccer team kicks off the 2004 season on Friday and Sunday
when the Yellowjackets play at a three team tournament in
Minnesota hosted by St. Cloud State. MSUB faces Bemidji State on
Friday afternoon and takes on host St. Cloud State on Sunday.
Bemidji and St. Cloud will meet on Saturday in the round robin
tournament.
The Yellowjackets dropped an exhibition game
last Sunday at the University of Montana, 3-1. The game was tied
until the fiftieth minute. Yellowjacket coaches and players were
enthusiastic about the team’s performance against the Division I
Grizzlies and expect to carry that momentum into the opening
weekend.
MSU Billings has never faced Bemidji State in
women’s soccer. The Beavers were 5-13-1 last season and have been
picked to finish seventh in the eight team Northern Sun
Conference. They return leading scorer Lindey Natwick, who scored
four goals and four assists last season. Natwick has been a
two-time all-conference selection.
The Yellowjackets and St. Cloud State played
to a scoreless double overtime tie in last year’s season opener
for both teams in Billings. It was the first meeting between the
two schools. The Huskies were 6-9-3 last season and return second
leading scorer Heidi Westrum, who scored five goals and 13 points.
Megan Plank (So., GK, Phoenix, AZ) returns in
goal for the Yellowjackets this season after being named team MVP
as a freshman. Also returning are the team’s two leading scorers,
Ally Taylor (So., MF, Ojai, CA) and Margot Merrill-Johnson (Sr.,
MF, Salt Lake City). Taylor earned All-West Region second team
honors as a freshman after leading the Lady Jackets with 21
points. She scored seven goals with seven assists.
Merrill-Johnson led the team with eight goals and had 18 points.
The Yellowjackets will be trying for their
first winning season in school history. They were 6-10-1 last
year, improving on a 2-14 mark in 2002. The team’s best season
came in 2001 when they finished at 9-9-0. |
