WINONA, MN -- Winona State University (17-4) scored two goals in the second half and lifted itself into the championship game of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/U.S. Bank Tournament with a 2-1 decision over Minnesota State University Mankato (13-4-2) on Maxwell Field at Verizon Wireless Stadium.
The Warriors wll now meet the University of Minnesota Duluth, Sunday, November, 8, at 1:00 p.m. for the league tournament championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II national soccer tournament.
Senior, midfielder,
Martha Curtiss played a major role in the scoring for the Warriors. Curtiss came up with what proved to be the winning goal at the 54:33 mark of the second half to give WSU a 2-0 lead.
Earlier Curtiss assisted on the Warriors' first goal when
Lauren Sturdivant scored at 50:32 for the first goal of the match after a scoreless first half.
Minnesota State was not ready to give up after Curtiss scored her goal. The Mavericks closed the deficit to a goal when they scored at 63:16. But the Warriors defense was equally up to the task, as it managed to stop the Mavericks from scoring despite giving up seven shots and two corner kicks.
WSU goal keeper
Anna Belpedio came up huge in the nets, as she stopped 11 of the 12 shots on goal the Mavericks recorded.
The Warriors did make good use of the shots they totaled, as they put of nine shots, seven on goal, while MSUM finished with 21 total shots.
In the other semifinal match, Minnesota Duluth stopped St. Cloud State University 2-1.