BILLINGS, Mont. – Scoring the game's lone goal in the 71st minute on Thursday evening at Amend Park, Mia Zagorski lifted the Northern State University women's soccer team to a 1-0 win over host Montana State University Billings in the opening game of the 2022 regular season.
 
Alexus Townsend made nine saves for the Wolves (1-0), as she kept the Yellowjackets out of the net despite the hosts out-shooting the visitors 17-11 on the afternoon. "This was another hard-fought game against Northern, which ended in an identical type of match as it did last year," said MSUB head coach Stephen Cavallo. "We played well for most of the game and created some decent moments. We didn't have enough quality in our final product, and we weren't able to significantly test their goalkeeper."
 
Jillian Hust led the offensive effort for MSUB (0-1), with seven shots including four on target, but overall the 'Jackets went without an attempt that required Townsend to leave her feet to make a save. The most significant of the goalkeeper's contributions came on through balls into the box, as she came off her line instinctually to make sliding stops ahead of MSUB attackers on multiple occasions.
 
Clare Keenan had a positive start to her junior campaign, coming through with several key saves to help give her team a chance through the final whistle. Keenan's biggest moment of the day came eight minutes into the second half, when she leapt backwards to make a top-hand tip save on a strike from NSU's Megan Fastenau that was headed for the upper-left corner of the net. "Clare made a phenomenal save at the start of the second half, but other than that we really controlled the play," Cavallo said. "We are a bit unlucky on the goal we conceded, but credit to Northern for burying their chance."
 
The Yellowjackets were gifted with one of their top scoring chances less than a minute after Keenan's big denial, when Liberty Palmer stepped into an errant pass in the midfield and found herself open towards the top of the box. Townsend handled Palmer's on-target attempt however, keeping the score at 0-0 midway through the second half.
 
The Wolves' goal came on a cross towards the middle of the pitch that wound up being redirected off an MSUB defender towards the goal box. Zagorski ran onto the loose ball with space, and punched a well-struck, right-footed shot into the unreachable upper-left corner of the goal to beat Keenan one-on-one.
 
Momentum belonged to the Yellowjackets in the early stages of the game, as the hosts possessed the ball well early and won a pair of free kicks in the attacking third that didn't yield goal-scoring chances.
 
NSU's first clear strike came 13 minutes into the match, when Calista Kocmick had room to curl a right-footed shot from the top of the box towards the lower-left corner of the net. After a good sliding save by Keenan led to a Wolves corner kick, the 'Jackets dodged another bullet when Zoe Boughton's powerful header attempt from inside the box carried wide of the left goal post.
 
Making her collegiate debut on Thursday, freshman Lauren Becraft played the full 90 minutes while commanding the aerial game and performing her duties on the back line well. Fellow center back Kailey Findlay and holding midfielder Taylor Gertsch were the other Yellowjacket field players to remain on the pitch for the full 90 minutes.
 
Lilja Davidsdottir was the lone NSU field player to play the full 90 minutes, while four different Wolves had two shots in the match. Each team had four corner kicks, while MSUB committed 15 fouls and NSU seven. "There were a lot of positives out there today, and we will get ready for Mary," Cavallo said referencing the team's upcoming match on Saturday. "We know that is going to be an absolute dog fight."
 
THE BUZZ: Becraft was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB is now 3-2 all-time against Northern State and is 2-1 in home matches…the Wolves have won two games in-a-row in the series, after claiming a 1-0 result last September in Aberdeen, S.D….Emilyn Krans, Taylor Ingram, Vivien Guese, and Mackenzie Carnell each made their MSUB debut on Thursday.
 
NEXT UP: The Yellowjackets are back in action Saturday, with a 3 p.m. kickoff against University of Mary. Saturday's game will be played at Herb Klindt Field on the campus of Rocky Mountain College, with live video available online here and live statistics available online here.