UND women’s soccer kicked off the Homecoming weekend of sports on Thursday, Oct. 3 when
they took on the University of South Dakota Coyotes at home.
The last time UND played the Coyotes was at the end of their season last year, where it ended
in a loss for the Fighting Hawks in Vermillion.
This year UND was ready. They started the weekend off strong with a nail-biting end to a 2-1
win.
Just 20 minutes into the game, junior Mimi Eiden stepped into her usual role on the team as
she charged down the field to score, past three defenders. UND was up 1-0.
“I think we did a really good job starting off,” Eiden said. “Right off the bat we were getting
every ball and it finally got somewhere. The ball got to me and I got a chance to finish it off.”
Eiden currently sits at third place in the Summit League rankings for goals and total points.
With about three minutes left in the game, USD midfielder Alexis Mitchell was given a penalty
kick. She capitalized on the opportunity to tie-up the game 1-1.
Less than a minute later, sophomore forward Emma Bangert put the ball in the back of the net
for the Fighting Hawks.
“I just like the relentlessness of our team. (USD) scored and we were like, okay, we’re going to
score again,” Eiden said. “Our mentality is always that we need another one.”
Bangert has been knocking at the door of scoring a goal for quite a while now. After showing up
and playing a key role in each game so far this season, she finally added her name to the
scoresheet.
“My shot is something I’ve struggled with so far this year,” Bangert said. “I’ve been staying late
at practice and coming early, just to put one away. It finally happened.”

The team was able to rely on senior Catherine Klein in the goal, who finished with four saves on
Thursday. She currently ranks second in saves of the goalies in the Summit League. She’s
second only to North Dakota State’s Monica Pulgar.
“Cat is Wonderwoman,” Eiden said. “She always plays her best and we can always count on
her.”
The Fighting Hawks looked ahead to Sunday’s game immediately following the win on
Thursday.
“Our mind was cleared right after the game,” Eiden said. “We need to beat SDSU.”
South Dakota State was the only team who racked up more points in non-conference play than
North Dakota, who had 13.
SDSU has a strong history in the Summit League. They tied with Denver as regular season
champions last year and won the year before. They won the Summit League tournament three
consecutive years: 2014, 2015 and 2016.
SDSU also returns the League’s voted best goalkeeper for the past two years, senior Maggie
Smither.
Although SDSU is most likely more of a challenge than USD, the Fighting Hawks were up for the
challenge.
“We just really need to trust each other, rely on each other and stop panicking,” Bangert said.
“If we do that, we can beat anyone.”