MINOT, N.D. -- All Minnesota State needed to take down Minot State was three goals in three minutes during the first half of a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference soccer match played on the road at Herb Parker Stadium, Friday night.
With the 3-0 win, the Mavericks now have eight consecutive wins, with seven shutouts in their last eight contests, to improve to 11-2-1 on the season, including a 9-1-1 NSIC record to move into sole possession of the second spot in the NSIC standings. With the loss, the Beavers dropped to 9-4-1, including an 8-2-1 conference record which saw them fall out of their second-place tie with MSU in the conference standings.
The Mavericks hit the ground running in Friday evening's contest. Junior forward Caitlin Brown put MSU up 1-0 with a goal off a feed from freshman midfielder Sophie Eskierka that ended up deflecting off the Beavers' goalkeeper and over the line during the 12th minute.
Junior forward Nadia Lowery wasted no time putting the Mavericks up by a pair. Half a minute after Brown gave MSU the lead, Lowery provided insurance by cleaning up a rebound off the crossbar which was initially shot by freshman forward Maille Mathis in the 13th minute.
Moments later, junior forward Jenny Vetter made it 3-0 with an unassisted goal in the 15th minute. Vetter's 41st career goal, which now has her tied for fourth in all-time goals at MSU with Morgan Cottew (2015-18), saw her steal the ball from a Beaver defender before streaking in on the break and burying a shot into the lower-left corner. The Mavericks led 3-0 with an 8-3 shots advantage at halftime.
In the second half, the Mavericks and Beavers played a scoreless final 45 minutes as Minnesota State held on to win 3-0 in the NSIC contest to secure sole possession of the second spot over Minot State in the conference standings.
In goal, sophomore Mackenzie Rath, now 6-1-1, was brilliant stopping seven shots for her sixth career clean sheet and fifth of the season. The Mavericks' ninth shutout of the season marked the seventh in their last eight matches as they extended their win streak to eight matches in a row.
In total, MSU edged MISU with a 13-12 advantage in shots during the match, which included a 10-7 upper hand in shots on goal. The Mavericks led the Beavers by a 6-1 margin in corner kicks.
Up next, Minnesota State heads to the University of Mary to take on the Marauders in Bismarck, N.D., Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
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