Even though the final score was not in the University of North Dakota Soccer team’s favor, Head Coach Chris Logan viewed the game as a step in the right direction.  

“We have not even played that well yet,” Logan said. “To play two really good teams that tight and have Boise hanging out at the end, there are some positives to take away from that … We are starting to settle into what we can do.”  

The Boise State University Women’s Soccer team defeated the University of North Dakota 3-2 on Sunday August 20th at Bronson Field in Grand Forks. The game marked UND’s second loss of the season, and the second loss in a row making them 0-2 this season.  

The game started amidst pouring rain with 183 fans gathered at Bronson field. Despite the sizable support for UND, the game started off in favor of BSU. 

The Broncos were able to keep possession for much of the first half, keeping UND hemmed in their own zone. However, UND held strong and managed to keep the game scoreless for much of the half. That was until the final four minutes of the first half where BSU scored three times in three minutes. The first half ended with a score of 3-0 in favor of BSU.
 

“Definitely at halftime the best team was winning,” Logan said. “And then I think finally, our team just kind of got up to speed with Division One soccer.”  

In the second half, as the sun broke through the clouds, UND rallied, with Allison Rapaduski and Sarah McCracken scoring 2 goals in three minutes, bringing the game within one.  

“The light bulb went on,” Logan said. “We went out to have a really good second half with two quick goals, I thought we were going to get the third.”  

After the quick two goals, UND had new life in them. They pushed the pace and managed to draw more calls and sustained offensive zone time.  

“We were really pushing some great chances and did not go away today,” Logan said.  

However, BSU had started the second half with Jazmyn Brass in net as opposed to Genevieve Crenshaw, who held UND scoreless in the first half. Crenshaw was put back in net after UND pulled within one and despite their best efforts and grade A chances, the Fighting Hawks could not close the gap.  

The final shot count of the second half was 8-6 in favor of BSU, who finished the game outshooting UND 18-12.  

Despite the loss, Coach Logan was proud of the effort UND put up against a team as “skilled” as BSU and is walking away from the loss with an optimistic viewpoint.  

“We definitely have some work to do,” he said. “But we can build off this weekend too and show that we can compete.”   

Maeve Hushman is a Dakota Student Sports Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].