Soccer - News

DAHMEN’S HEADER SEALS BIG BULLDOG WIN OVER NO. 5 MAVERICKS

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Junior forward/midfielder Molly Nepote fights for a header against a Minnesota State defender on Sunday

Senior co-captain Clare Dahmen easily has the most admired forehead on the University of Minnesota Duluth soccer team at the momment. Thanks to the Hopkins, Minn., native's opportunistic header goal at the 65:28 mark, UMD reigned supreme over No. 5 Minnesota State University - Mankato 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at James S. Malosky Stadium.

With that one motion of the midfielder/forward's head, UMD now finds itself sitting at the top of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings at 2-0 record to go with a 4-1-1 overall mark.

Through the first 20 minutes of the conference matchup, the Bulldogs set a relentless and attacking tempo. UMD let loose six shots in that time frame, with three of those requiring MSU (5-1, 1-1 NSIC) netminder Shelia Reynolds to exert herself early to make the saves.

The Mavericks responded with a couple of offensive opportunities of its own, but Bulldog junior goalie Hannah Bengtson showed she was up to any challenge MSU had for her on the day. The first save for the native of Lino Lakes, Minn., made that quite clear, as she turned in a diving stop on a blistering shot from Mavericks leading scorer - and NSIC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year - Laura Leber.

The rest of the play in the opening half was as deadlocked as the numbers on the Malosky Stadium scoreboard, and the teams entered halftime knotted at 0-0.

MSU opened the latter 45 minutes of play showing off the same type of energy and intensity that UMD displayed in the first stanza, quickly getting a number of chances in front of the Bulldog goal.

It was UMD, and Dahmen specifically, that was able to capitalize, however, with a scramble in front of the visitor's net resulting in the game winner, almost exactly 20 minutes into the second half. Freshman midfielder/defender Ashley Brown created the opportunity by gaining possession of the ball deep in Maverick territory. From the left side of the goalie box, the River Falls, Wis., native slipped a pass across the goal mouth, connecting with Dahmen's head and ending up in the back of the net. The boisterous crowd of 212 erupted, along with the Bulldog bench, on Dahmen's third scoring strike of the season.

"[Head coach Greg Cane] said at halftime that we just had to do whatever it took to get the ball into the goal," said Dahmen afterwards. "I was just able to get my head on it before the goalie could grab it."

Rolling over and dying wasn't in the plans for the defending NSIC tournament champions, however. The Mavericks doubled their offensive efforts after the goal, but Bengtson again came up with a number of clutch saves to ensure the Bulldogs would gain their first victory over MSU in the teams' last five meetings - UMD last beat Minnesota State on Sept. 8, 2006 by a 1-0 margin, and are now 6-11-2 all-time against its long-time foe.

"I told the team beforehand, ‘I know how much you want to win this game, but you have to score to win,'" said Cane. "It was a game of two good teams going punch for punch, and our performance is a real sign of our maturity."

Bengtson finished her fourth consecutive shutout with five saves in all. Reynolds made eight saves in defeat.

Dahmen's game-winner was her second on the weekend, and second for the season, overall. With the goal, she moves into a three-way tie for 12th on the school's career scoring charts with Erin Munkeby (1996-99) and Lisa Good (1995-96).

The Bulldogs will look to build off of the momentum gained through their current five-game unbeaten streak, when they travel to Moorhead, Minn., next Friday (Sept. 25) to take on Minnesota State University-Moorhead. The clash, which has a scheduled start time of 4 p.m., is the start of a four-game road trip for UMD. The Maroon and Gold won't return to Malosky Stadium until an Oct. 10 showdown with Concordia University, St. Paul.

Game Box Score

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