Photo Credit: Russell Hons -UND Athletics

On a rain-soaked Bronson Field, the Fighting Hawks of UND accomplished something that had never been done under the leadership of Head Coach Chris Logan. This team went down 1-0 to the Gaels of St Mary’s College 51:44 into the match on a corner kick that found its way to Malia Alison to open the scoring ledger for the day.

That lead lasted a mere 1:56 as a perfectly placed Bailey McNitt corner found Mara Yapello who was able to tie things up on a shot to the left side of the net.

The score would remain level until the second overtime frame because of UND goalie Catherine Klein parrying away a number of great looks for the Gaels.

107:58 into the match, once again the game was on Bailey McNitt’s foot. After recently coming on as a late substitute for Mimi Eiden , her skills at the corner flag were needed once again. She placed a ball in a tough spot for the Gaels who were unable to clear it from danger. Then Mara Yapello found Meghan Wilson who put home the golden goal for the Fighting Hawks.

UND finished a home weekend against two quality non-conference opponents in Montana and St. Mary’s undefeated. Today’s match presented different challenges as the Fighting Hawks faced one of the fastest teams they will see all season. In a battle of speed against speed UND was able to hang on through tough stretches and come out with a hard-earned victory.

Going forward, this team can build on a few things like ensuring a more stable possession throughout the middle of the field. As Logan noted, when the team is able to do that, given the skilled players they have, they become much harder to defend.

As UND works on that they can gain more options to utilize their strong speed on the wings to open up quality looks on goal.

Now the Fighting Hawks head out on a two game road trip through South Carolina to build on this weekend’s results. The Fighting Hawks take on South Carolina State and The Citadel this week before returning home on September 6 to take on Chicago State.

If this team can keep improving as they have under Logan since he came to campus then this season promises to be as electric as today’s result is.