Lady Jackets Keep Rolling, Drop Bears 7-2 (Sept. 14, 2004)
Box Score

BILLINGS, MT – Seven players scored for Montana State-Billings Tuesday afternoon as the Yellowjackets extended their school-record unbeaten streak to six games with a 7-2 trouncing of Rocky Mountain College.  MSU Billings improved to 5-0-1 on the season, the best start in school history, dropping Rocky to 2-4-0.

“We’re certainly playing well right now,” said Yellowjacket head coach Don Trentham.  “The theme going into today was scoring goals, and we had seven different people score.  That says a lot about our team.  We have a very balanced attack this year.”

The Yellowjackets had Bears goalkeeper Nina Anderson under fire the entire game.  Yellowjacket freshman Brittney Sandau, a former Billings West standout, fired the first shot of the game just 30 second into the match.  Anderson had to make a diving save on Sandau’s shot to keep the game scoreless.  The Yellowjackets peppered Anderson with 24 shots on the day, 15 of which were on goal.  Anderson made eight saves.

MSU Billings broke through at 13:47 when sophomore Alyssa Wolfer found the net with a chip shot from the top of the 18 yard box.  Wolfer’s team-leading fourth goal of the season gave the Yellowjackets a 1-0 lead, which they extended to 2-0 in the twenty-ninth minute when Margot Merrill-Johnson beat Anderson to the right side.  Ally Taylor assisted on both goals.

“The first part of the season, we played a different formation,” said Merrill-Johnson, who shares the team lead with four goals, three of which have come in the last two games.  “The position I’m playing now is more natural for me and it leaves more openings in the middle.”

MSU Billings appeared to put the game out of reach with two more goals before halftime.  Freshman Amy Stephens scored her first collegiate goal at 32:33 for a 3-0 Yellowjacket lead.  Stephanie Clark assisted on Stephens’s goal, which she sent from the left side of the box to the far post.  Freshman Abby Bennett gave MSU Billings a 4-0 lead eight minutes before the half when she headed in a crossing pass from Stephens.  Stephens finished with a goal and an assist in the game for her first three points as a Yellowjacket.

“I knew we would get our goals,” said Clark.  “It’s pretty impressive that seven different players scored.  In the past two years we’ve had two really good recruiting classes, and that makes our bench deeper and our offense better.”

Rocky cut into the Jackets’ lead quickly in the first 15 minutes of the second half.  Jeannie McGonagle converted a free kick from just outside the box for an unassisted goal at 49:13 for the Bears’ first goal of the game.  Just over 10 minutes later, Krystel Silva scored from the backside off a crossing pass from Claire Crosbie, pulling the Bears to within 4-2.

The Bears took eight of their 10 shots in the second half, placing seven of them on goal.  Yellowjacket goalkeeper Megan Plank allowed two goals and made five saves to collect her fifth win of the season in goal.

With Rocky suddenly capturing the momentum, the Yellowjackets again applied the offensive pressure with a pair of goals in the sixty-fifth minute.  Megan Beckstead’s chip shot, assisted by Wolfer, at 65:20 gave MSU Billings a 5-2 lead.  MSUB’s Taylor then beat the keeper to a loose ball in the box and scored the Jackets’ sixth goal at 65:52.  Taylor had four points in the game with a goal and two assists.  She is tied with Wolfer for the team lead with three assists.

“We’re doing a better job of getting a lead and keeping it, which is hard to do,” said Merrill-Johnson.  “I think now we’re a more dominating team (than we have been in the past).  We’ve had to come from behind this year, and now we’ve shown that we can put a team away.

The Yellowjackets’ Kelsey Vinnedge applied the finishing touch at 82:29 with her second goal of the season.  Vinnedge broke loose from the defense and fired from about 25 yards.  Her shot caromed off the left post and into the net for the seventh goal of the game, entering the team into the Yellowjacket record book with the third-highest scoring game in school history.

“I think we caught Rocky on a day when everything went right for us and not much went right for them,” said Trentham.  “I’m sure it will be a different game next time.  For now, we’re happy to be undefeated going into regional play.  I still don’t think we’ve put together a good 90 minutes, and that will be something we have to do against regional opponents.”

The Yellowjackets open Far West Region play on Saturday when they host Central Washington at 1:00 p.m.  MSU Billings is 0-5 all-time against the Wildcats, including a 3-0 loss in Ellensburg last year. 

MSU Billings edged out Central Washington in Tuesday’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America regional top ten poll.  The Yellowjackets were ranked tenth in the Far West Region by the NSCAA.  It is the first time that a Yellowjacket soccer team has ever been ranked.

NSCAA/adidas Far West Region Top Ten
1. Seattle Pacific; 2. Seattle University; 3. UC-San Diego; 4. Sonoma State; 5. Cal State-Stanislaus; 6. Cal State-Dominguez Hills; 7. Humboldt State; 8. Cal State-San Bernardino; 9. Western Washington; 10. Montana State-Billings.