Jamestown, N.D. – Kyah Gabel and
Emma Belyk each found the back of the net once as the University of Jamestown women's soccer team took care of business with a 2-0 shutout of the Minnesota State Moorhead Dragons Friday afternoon at Charlotte and Gordon Hansen Stadium.
The Jimmies dominated possession early on, and in large part, for the whole game. Just a few minutes in,
Julliet Lopez sent a pass up the field aimed for the edge of the Moorhead box.
Langley Grow was chasing after it along with a Dragons defender as well as their netminder Emilia Kristensen. Grow got a foot on it, sending it towards the wide open net, but the shot missed by only a few feet to the right.
Musser made her first save of the night in the 22
nd minute but it was off a deep shot with no danger of going in. With around six minutes left to play, the Jimmies aggressiveness nearly got them a goal. A ball was mishandled in the Moorhead zone and
Gaby Lopez intercepted it. Lopez passed to
Vega Canada who was right outside the Moorhead box. Canada took a long shot that clanked off the right post. The ball bounced to
Isabella Martinez, who took a shot but this missed high, keeping UJ off the scoreboard.
Jamestown though, got on the board not one minute later.
Oriana Borrome made her way into the left edge of the Dragons box. Borrome found a cutting
Kyah Gabel who burst into the Moorhead box. Gabel one-timed it bottom right into the net and Kristensen could not get it as the Jimmies got on the board in the 40
th minute.
The first half ended with the same score and Jamestown owning a huge advantage in total shots 11-1 although only two of these shots were on target. The Jimmies had two corner kick opportunities while Moorhead got one.
Musser made her second save of the night in the 48
th minute, but was rather inactive throughout the game as Jamestown kept the Dragons pinned back in their own zone.
The Jimmies had several other good lucks in the early part of the first half, but they did not break through again until the 84
th minute. About 40 yards away from the net,
Bre Oettle from the middle of the field passed it up the left side.
Emma Belyk sprinted past the entire Dragons defense and controlled it near the top left of the box. The Manitoba native dribbled a couple of times to gather herself, then shot it bottom right, out of the reach of Kristensen as the dagger goal gave the Jimmies some insurance as they pulled up 2-0 for their largest lead of the season.
Moorhead was unable to get any more shots off in the game, with the Jimmies earning their first shutout of the season and getting above .500 in conference play.
It was a day of career firsts for the Jimmies in their big game.
Kyah Gabel earned her first-career goal while Belyk and Borrome notched their first-career points with their respective goal and assist. Musser made only two saves but got her second career win and first shutout.
Shots on net in the contest were 8-2 with the Jimmies recording a tenfold advantage in total shots at 20-2. Corner kicks were 5-1 in favor of Jamestown.
The Jimmies will look to keep up the momentum at home when they play the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles on Sunday, September 27 at noon.
