BISMARCK, ND – In a memorable season full of last-minute heroics, Northern Sun co-champion University of Mary women's soccer team was unable to conjure up another late goal in a 2-1 loss to visiting Bemidji State University in the opening round of the Northern Sun tournament.
With the NSIC tournament loss, UMary must now wait one week to find out its NCAA Division II playoff fate.
The Marauders (13-3-3 overall), who twice have scored in the final 90 seconds of a game to earn a draw this season while winning once on a goal with 24 seconds on the clock, dominated the stat sheet but was unable to match the Beavers (9-4-6 overall) scoring output. Seeded #2 in the tournament, UMary held a big advantage in shots (25-9), shots on goal (9-3) and corner kicks (8-1) over Bemidji State, the #7 seed.
UMary opened the scoring late in the first half when
Maicee Burke drilled a shot from atop the 18. Taking a feed from
Addison Massey, Burke one-timed her shot into the lower left side of the net 38:43 into the match to send UMary into intermission with a 1-0 lead.
The Beavers pulled even in 56' on a long blast by Olivia Utley. Bemidji State then took the lead at 71:09 when Meredith Paar took a long pass over the top of the UMary defense and scored from just outside the goal box. Paar also had an assist on the Utley goal.
The Marauders kept hammering at the Beavers defense but couldn't bust through. Over the last 19 minutes UMary earned three corner kicks and fired six shots and forced BSU goalkeeper Payton Kropp to make two saves.
Dina Polanco, the leading goal scorer in the NSIC, fired 14 shots in the game with six on net.
Maggie Bono added four shots with two on frame.
The NCAA Division II tournament pairings will be announced Monday, November 9, at 6 pm, on NCAA.com.
UMary is ranked 5
th in the NCAA D2 Central Region NCAA Power Index (NPI).
The primary purpose of NPI is to compare teams within NCAA Division II for ranking and NCAA championship selection. Once automatic qualifiers are determined, remaining teams are considered for at-large selection based on NPI ranking until the championship field is filled.
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), the Mid-America Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Great American Conference (GAC) make up the 36-team NCAA Central Region. The top eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA region tournament. Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the MIAA, GAC and NSIC postseason tournaments, with the remaining five spots awarded on an at-large basis. The two top-seeded teams in each region shall be offered the opportunity to host, provided minimum site selection criteria are met and a bid has been submitted.
The NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship provides for a 56-team, single-elimination tournament. The top eight teams in the central region will compete in the championship.
The top ten teams in the NPI from the Central Region through November 1 are: Minnesota State (NSIC), Washburn (MIAA), Pittsburg State (MIAA), Central Missouri (MIAA), UMary (NSIC), Augustana (NSIC), Northern State (NSIC), Central Oklahoma (MIAA), Minnesota Duluth (NSIC) and Missouri Western (MIAA). Harding is the top GAC team in the Central Region rankings at #14.
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