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2005-2006 News
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Lady Jackets Notch First Win (8/30/05)
Box Score

GRAND JUNCTION, CO – The Montana State-Billings women’s soccer team cracked into the win column on Tuesday with a 3-1 win at Mesa State College.  A pair of first half goals from junior Ally Stroup led the way as the Yellowjackets improved to 1-1-1. 

The Yellowjackets return home from a three-game trip to Colorado to host the Fourth Annual MSU Billings Thrifty Cup this weekend.  MSU Billings will host Adams State on Saturday and St. Mary’s (TX) on Labor Day with both games kicking off at 1:00 p.m. at the MSU Billings College of Technology.

Stroup (Ojai, CA) continued her hot offensive play on Tuesday, putting three of her four shots on goal and finding the net twice.  She beat the Mavericks’ keeper one on one at 18:56 for her first goal of the game and first of the season.  She gave the Yellowjackets a 2-0 advantage at 47:39, striking from the left side.  Stroup’s second goal was assisted by Mandy Ploskonka (Fr., Federal Way, WA).  In the first three games Stroup has taken 20 shots, putting 12 of them on goal for a sizzling .600 shot on goal percentage.

“In the first game of this trip I was playing on the wing,” said Stroup.  “In the last two games I switched back to the middle where I’m used to playing.  I love to take those opportunities and I felt like I was open.  I’m just hitting the ball a lot better than I did in the past two years.  I think we had a good trip.  Our record doesn’t show how well we played.  In the game against Fort Lewis (a 1-1 draw on Sunday) we played amazing.  Everything was clicking and it was unfortunate that we tied.  We had so many shots, they just didn’t go in.  But it carried over to today, and I think it will carry over to this weekend’s games at home.”

MSU Billings only out-shot the Mavericks 25-20 overall in the game, but 17 of the Yellowjackets’ shots were on goal compared to eight for Mesa State.  The Jackets kept Mavs goalkeeper Krysti Walker under fire all day, forcing her to make 14 saves.  MSU Billings keeper Megan Plank (Jr., Phoenix, AZ) stopped seven shots in the winning effort, breaking the school record for career saves with 212.

“Defensively we’re playing well,” said Yellowjacket head coach Don Trentham.  “We still have some room for improvement.  Offensively we looked good today.  We’ll have to see if we can keep things going.  We were definitely fatigued today.  It was our third game in five days and that took its toll.  The girls gritted it out and found a way to get a win.  That’s important to end a road trip like this.”

The Yellowjackets closed out the scoring early in the second half when Brittney Sandau (So., Billings, MT) scored from the right side.  She was assisted by Stroup, who passed across the box from the left side.  The goal was Sandau’s third in as many games to start the season.  She tied five others for third in the school record book with three consecutive games with at least one goal.  The school record is five consecutive games with a goal by Abby Farmer.

Stroup’s five points in the game gave her 50 for her career.  She is 21 short of Margot Merrill-Johnson’s school record of 71.  Stoup already holds the school record for assists (16 after Tuesday) and is third in school history with 17 career goals.

“Overall it was a successful trip,” added Trentham.  “To go on the road for the first three games and come out of it 1-1-1 is good.  It will be good to go back home and play our two big games this weekend.  One of the big positives of this trip is that everyone who made the trip got experience on the field.  It’s evident that we’re a lot deeper than we were last year.  That depth will help us a lot as the season goes on.”

In all, 10 different Yellowjackets had at least one shot on goal against the Mavericks.  Along with Stroup, Katie Ginther (Fr., Puyallup, WA) had three shots on goal.  Putting a pair of shots on goal were Jenny Moellendorf (Jr., Green River, WY), Micah Merrill-Johnson (Fr., Salt Lake City, UT), and Chelsea Libby (Fr., Puyallup, WA).

Photos of Women's Soccer, Season opening trip to Colorado (courtesy of Rusty Stephens)

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