Mankato, Minn.--- No. 17 Minnesota State (4-1-0. 2-0-0 NSIC) cruises past Upper Iowa (1-5-0, 0-2-0 NSIC) on Sunday afternoon by a score of 4-0.
 
The Mavericks jumped out to a quick lead in the eighth minute when junior midfielder Dakota Wendell headed the ball in off a corner kick, netting her third goal of the season and was assisted by freshman forward Jenny Vetter. MSU had plenty of other chances in the first half with their pressuring defense causing havoc and scoring opportunities, but the score remained 1-0 at the half. The Mavericks outshot the Peacocks 11-4 in the first half.
 
In the second half, the Mavericks came out on fire adding three more goals within a seven minute span. The second goal happened in the 66th minute off of the foot of sophomore forward Molly Riley. This was her second goal of the season and the assist came from Wendell, pushing the MSU lead to 2-0. Two minutes later, Riley scored her second goal of the game and third of the season with the assist coming from freshman forward Nadia Lowery, extending the Maverick lead to 3-0. All three of Riley's goals have come this weekend in the past two games. The final goal came in the 73rd minute when senior forward Morgan Cottew garnered her first goal of the season from right in front of the net with the assist of senior defender Morgan Seemuth. The Mavericks pressured the Peacocks all game with fresh legs from a continuous rotation of players that led to a 4-0 win.
 
The pressure defense led to plenty of scoring opportunities with the Mavericks outshooting the Peacoks 21-5 (16-0 on goal) on the game. Those opportunities also led to a corner kick count of 12-2 with one of those prevailing in a goal for MSU.
 
Junior goalkeeper Alexa Rabune had a relatively quiet game because of how good Minnesota State's defense was. Rabune only faced five total shots with none of them being on goal. Upper Iowa's goalkeeper Natalie Rudrud faced 16 shots on goal, converting 12 saves on the day.
 
The Mavericks are back in action next weekend with a pair of NSIC games on the road. MSU travels to Duluth, Minn., on Friday, Sept. 21st to face Minnesota Duluth at 7:00 p.m. Minnesota State will take on St. Cloud State on Sunday, Sept. 23rd in St. Cloud, Minn., at 1:00 p.m.
 
Here is Head Coach Brian Bahl, Molly Riley, and junior midfielder Alesha Duccini discussing this weekend's sweep of matches against Winona State and Upper Iowa.