South Dakota soccer heads to the Summit League Tournament, facing No. 1 Denver

The South Dakota Coyote soccer team (9-6-1)  is seeded fourth to take on No. 1 seed Denver (14-1-1) in the Summit League women’s soccer tournament hosted in Omaha, Nebraska. The game is set to play April 15 at 2 p.m. The winner of the South Dakota State (12-0-4) and Omaha (8-4-4)  game will play the winner of USD and Denver for the championship on April 17 at 4 p.m.

This conference bid comes off a North Dakota shutout weekend. After a 6-0 game Friday the Coyotes continued their efforts to win 3-0 Sunday. 

During the first matchup against UND, junior Jordan Centineo collected her third goal of the season due to an assist from Summit League Player of the Week senior Alexis Mitchell and sophomore Shaylee Gailus. 

Junior Taylor Cotter tallied her eighth assist of the season allowing freshman Taylor Ravelo to place the ball into the Fighting Hawks goal. 

Mitchell took advantage of a UND foul and drove the ball straight into the net, as the ball narrowly missed the UND goalkeeper. 

Sophomore Lexie Wood and junior Tiannah Moore also made goalscoring plays against UND Friday. The last goal of the game came from freshman duo Hattie Giblin who placed the ball into the net after an assist from Janaina Zanin.

Sunday’s game matchup in Grand Forks saw the Yotes fourth consecutive shutout of the season. 

USD saw three-goals including one from Gailus who scored after assists from Mitchell and Centineo. 

Heading into the second half up 1-0 USD extended their lead to 2-0 after an assist from Joana Zanin and a goal from Centineo. 

Mitchell earned her seventh goal of the season after rebounding the ball back into the net after the goalkeeper threw it back onto the field. Mitchell brought the team to a 3-0 finish. 

South Dakota takes on No. 1 Denver in Omaha, Nebraska Thursday at 2 p.m. for a chance at the Summit League Conference title.