October 12, 2007

Lady Jackets Tame Wildcats 2-1
Box Score
MSUB Season Stats

BILLINGS, Mont. – MSU Billings scored two second half goals and defeated Central Washington 2-1 Friday in women’s soccer.  The Yellowjackets moved back into third place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings, improving to 4-3-1 in the conference and 8-5-1 overall.  Central Washington dropped to 3-5-0 in the league and 6-7-1 overall.

In a match up that promised to be hard-fought and evenly matched, the teams played to a 0-0 halftime score with just five combined shots.  Central Washington controlled portions of the first half and out-shot the Jackets 4-1, but neither team really threatened in the opening stanza.

The Yellowjackets got on the board at 67:39 after Kari Foreman (Lakewood, Colo.) was tackled in the box.  Mandy Ploskonka (Federal Way, Wash.) converted the penalty kick for her seventh goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.

Almost 12 minutes later, the Yellowjackets notched a much-needed insurance goal.  Wearing No. 7 to honor her sister Brittney who suffered a career-ending injury last week, freshman Samantha Sandau (Billings) netted the eventual game-winner at 79:15.  She picked up an entry pass from Jelisa Guy (Kalispell) after it bounced off a defender’s head and lobbed it over Wildcat goalkeeper Amber Easterbrook.  The goal was Sandau’s fifth of the season.

“I thought it was an important goal at the time,” said Yellowjacket head coach Don Trentham.  “It was a 1-0 game, and it was still really tight.  Sara (Gress) played a great ball in, and Jelisa flicked it in perfectly.  It was a great goal.  It was obviously an important goal, but I think it was more special for Sami to get the game winner in the first game after her sister got hurt.”

The Wildcats made things interesting down the stretch after Chelsea Lovin took a short cross from the right side from Kaycie Hutchins and drilled it into the lower left corner of the net while spinning to the ground.  Lovin’s fourth goal of the season, coming at 81:05, put the Wildcats back in the game.  However, Central managed just one more shot in the final nine minutes, an attempt from Lovin that sailed high.

Easterbrook made four saves, including three in the second half.  Yellowjacket keeper Jordan Fenwick (Boise, Idaho) had three saves in the game.

The Yellowjackets continue their critical GNAC home stand on Sunday when they host Western Washington at 1 p.m.  The Vikings are currently ranked sixth in the NCAA Far West Region, but they will be trying to snap a three-game losing streak.

“All these games in this stretch are important,” said Trentham.  “Today’s game was an important conference win, but it was also a good regional win against a good opponent.  We’ll enjoy it tonight, then we’ll start getting ready for Western Washington on Sunday.”