BILLINGS, Mont. – Maddie Smith made her first collegiate goal count on Saturday afternoon at the Athletic & Recreation Fields on the campus of Northern State University, as her finish lifted Montana State University Billings to a 1-0 neutral-site women's soccer win over the University of Nebraska Kearney.
 
Smith netted the winner in the 67th minute, and the Yellowjackets held on down the stretch to pick up their first win of the 2021 season. "Before we started the match, I thought to myself that I was going to score my first college goal," Smith said after the match. "Coach Kendyl (Baird) told everyone to take their chances, so I took my opportunity when I got a beautiful through ball by Lexie."
 
Smith's finish helped MSUB improve to 1-1 on the opening weekend of the season, as the 'Jackets atoned for Thursday's 1-0 defeat at the hands of host Northern State University. "It feels good to see the hard work we have been putting in give us the outcome we have wanted," said MSUB head coach Stephen Cavallo. "I am very proud of the team for how hard they battled today. We played our game, created good chances, and finally got the goal in the second half from Maddie Smith."
 
The Yellowjackets controlled the flow of play for the most part, out-shooting the Lopers 17-9 during the match. UNK (1-1) placed eight of its nine attempts on target however, as MSUB goalkeeper Tuva Sallvin was kept busy in earning her first shutout in a Yellowjacket uniform. "Credit to Tuva Sallvin for making an incredible save to keep the game at 0-0," said Cavallo. "If she does not make that play then who knows how the rest of the game would have transpired. We had to dig deep and see out a nervy final 10 minutes, but we did enough to keep the shutout and get the win."
 
Sallvin's first stop was a comfortable sliding save 10 minutes into the match on a low shot inside the box off the foot of Cammie Davis. The sophomore transfer made seven more important stops and played the full 90 minutes between the posts.
 
Liberty Palmer landed MSUB's first four shots of the match, two of which were saved by Loper goalkeeper Emery Mounce. The second on-target strike during that sequence came as the result of a solid combination play in the offensive third, and Mounce made a good stop on a strike from point-blank range. Palmer led the team with five shots overall in the game, placing two of them on target.
 
Hailee Gertsch played 79 strong minutes at center back to help key the shutout, while Vendela Andersson contributed 57 minutes and Lexie Bloyder played 78 of the 90.
 
After a scoreless 45 minutes of play, the 'Jackets carried their momentum into the second half with four shots in the opening 10 minutes. One of those was a near miss just over the crossbar off the foot of Jordan Roe, who made an immediate impact in her 2021 season debut.
 
Smith's goal was preceded by an on-target shot from the freshman a minute earlier, as Mounce was able to keep it out of the net. On the scoring play however, Bloyder fed a crafty through ball towards the box and watched as Smith lofted it towards the far post and into the side netting to give the Yellowjackets a 1-0 lead.
 
MSUB dodged a bullet with 12 minutes to go in the match, when the Lopers seemingly equalized on a cross into the box that wound up in the back of the net. The offside flag was raised however, as MSUB avoided what proved to be the most dangerous threat down the final stretch of play.
 
Freshman Jackie Sharpe contributed three shots to the offensive effort, while Clara Lindberg turned in a solid 44 minutes off the bench and Kendall McGraw chipped in 33 notable minutes as a reserve in the midfield. The Yellowjackets withstood five UNK corner kicks during the match, while winning three to keep the pressure on.
 
THE BUZZ: Smith was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…the assist was the second of Bloyder's career and was her first point of the season…MSUB is now 1-1 all-time against UNK and is 1-0 in neutral-site contests.
 
NEXT UP: After a day off Sunday, the Yellowjackets wrap up their season-opening road trip with a 7 p.m. match at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. Live video for the Labor Day affair will be available online here and live statistics will be available online here.