Taylor’s OT Goal Keeps Lady Jackets Unbeaten (Sept. 6, 2004)
Box Score
BILLINGS, MT – Ally
Taylor scored on a breakaway in the 109th minute on
Monday to lift MSU Billings to a 2-1 double overtime victory over
Mesa State. The game was the third and final game of the third
annual MSU Billings Cup sponsored by Thrifty Car Rental.
MSU Billings and North Dakota were each 1-0-1 at the tournament.
The Fighting Sioux won the Cup tiebreaker on goal differential
after beating Mesa State, 2-0, on Sunday. UND’s Christine Lapp
was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Just two days after playing to a 1-1 draw
with North Dakota, the Yellowjackets seemed to be heading in the
same direction against Mesa State until Taylor’s (So., MF, Ojai,
CA) push in the final minute. Her shot was just the
Yellowjackets’ second in the second overtime period.
“I got the ball just outside the 18 yard box,
saw an opening and just took the shot,” said Taylor. “When it was
up near the post, I knew she (Mesa goalkeeper Stephanie Burgess)
couldn’t get to it, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to hit the
post.”
The win improved MSU Billings to 3-0-1, the
best start in the program’s history. The Yellowjackets started
2-0-1 last year before dropping three straight games. The 2001
team, which posted a school-best 9-9 record, lost its first four
games of the season.
“I think it was a positive weekend for us,”
said Yellowjacket head coach Don Trentham. “There were two good
teams here in North Dakota and Mesa State. We found out a lot
about our team. We have a lot of heart and we’re not going to
give up. It’s great when you have that kind of attitude.”
Brittney Sandau (Fr., MF, Billings, MT) put the Jackets on the
board just 9:55 into the game when she attacked from the right
side to beat the keeper. Stephanie Clark’s (Sr., MF, Tualatin, OR) through ball led to
Sandau’s goal.
The Mavericks tied the game less than two
minutes later when Lauren Bell won a loose ball just inside the
box and beat MSU Billings keeper Megan
Plank (So, Phoenix, AZ) to the right side. Following Sell’s
goal at 11:35, the game was scoreless for nearly the next 100
minutes before Taylor’s goal kept MSU Billings from registering
its second tie in as many games.
Plank made 11 saves on the day. After
allowing only two goals in almost 220 minutes this weekend, she
now has a 0.68 goals against average and a 3-0-1 record. She had
to make three saves in the second overtime to set up Taylor’s game
winner.
“I’m happy for our players,” concluded
Trentham. “They kind of got a monkey off their backs this
weekend. We’ve only won one overtime game in the last three
years, and we’ve never beaten a team from Colorado. They did both
today. Even though only 13 players played, we have 20 players who
put in the training each day. Today was a win for all 20 of
them.”
“Our most important game of the season now is
Savannah College of Art and Design,” added Trentham. “They’re the
ones we need to worry about to continue our unbeaten streak.”
The Yellowjackets host SCAD next Sunday at
1:00 p.m. |
