Soccer Falls to Omaha in Summit League Tournament
For the first time since 2021, the South Dakota soccer team found themselves in the Summit League tournament as the fifth seed taking on No. 4 Omaha hosted in Denver.
Earlier this season, the Coyotes traveled to Omaha to play the Mavericks where the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
In the early going of the tournament match, the Mavericks had the ball on the Coyotes side of the field where they kicked four corner kicks in the first 25 minutes of play.
The Coyotes answered the Omaha attack with an attack of their own as sophomore forward Rylee Haldeman took two shots. Both shots went wide right.
Haldeman had another shot at the 22 minute, however it went outside.
The Mavericks continued to apply pressure on the South Dakota defense as they poured in three shots between the 29 and 32 minutes of the match.
Omaha put in two more shots and one more corner in the final seven minutes until the Coyotes answered back with two shots and a corner kick in the final two minutes of the half. Both shots came from senior midfielder Brooke Kercher-Pratt with both were saved by Omaha’s senior goalie Mia Reedtz Rehde Olesen.
The first half ended with a 0-0 tie with the two teams tied with five total shots each. The Mavericks led the Coyotes in corners 6-1.
It wasn’t until the 82 minute of the match when the first goal was scored as the Mavericks senior midfielder Emilie Erland snuck a shot into the back of the net to put them ahead 1-0.
Just four minutes later, Omaha struck once again this time from the Summit League Offensive Player of the Year senior forward Sophia Green. This goal put the Mavericks up 2-0 with 14 minutes left in the match.
The Coyotes, with time winding down, tried to put two shots in the back of the net but were unable to capitalize in the end.
The Mavericks won the match 2-0 and went on to play the Denver Pioneers where they also secured a 2-2 (3-2 PK’s) victory to punch their ticket into the Summit League Championship.
On the day, the Mavericks outshot the Coyotes 11-10 with a 5-1 on shots on goal. Omaha also had seven corner kicks compared to USD’s five.
Kercher-Pratt, Haldeman and senior forward Ashby Johnston led the Coyotes in shots with two. Following behind was fifth year forward Shaylee Gailus, senior midfielder Janaina Zanin, sophomore midfielder Brooklyn Bordson and sophomore midfielder Izzy Quintavalle each had one shot.
South Dakota senior goalkeeper Caroline Lewis finished the day with three saves.
After the loss, the Coyotes record moved to 7-7-4 overall with a Summit League record of 3-4-1. This was their best record since 2021 when they won 10 games.
