FIRST HALF GOAL ENOUGH FOR JACKS TO BEAT LOPES

Thursday, September 7

Brookings, S.D.

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

6-1-0, 0-0-0

Grand Canyon

4-2-1, 0-0-0

Grand Canyon

South Dakota St.

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

9/7/2023 9:42:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Andrew Pedersen

BROOKINGS, S.D. — South Dakota State scored a first half goal and withstood a comeback attempt to earn a 1-0 non-conference victory over Grand Canyon on Thursday, Sept. 7, at Fishback Soccer Park.

The Jackrabbits and Lopes played a competitive match from the start as neither team recorded a shot through the opening 15 minutes of the contest. SDSU goalkeeper Jocelyn Tanner then saw a busy next 12 minutes, making three saves during the span, but kept the matchup scoreless.

SDSU registered three shots before finally taking the only lead of the night. A foul called on GCU set up the Jackrabbits with a free kick outside the box just within the sideline. Kaycee Manding kicked a cross in front of the goal. A Lopes defender tried to head the ball out of the box, but instead junior midfielder Maleah Evans stepped into a shot. Her strike glanced off a GCU player, freezing the Lopes' goalkeeper, and bounced its way inside the corner of the goal.

The Maleah Evans goal was the first of her SDSU career and put the Jackrabbits ahead 1-0 in the 38th minute.

South Dakota State held on to its advantage despite plenty of attacking pressure from GCU over the course of the second half. Tanner registered two more saves over the final 45 minutes of play, while the Jackrabbit back row of Lauren Eckerle, Katherine Jones and Kaycee Manding was up to the task against the Lopes. Only one more shot was put on goal in the final 30 minutes of action, but it was blocked by the SDSU defense in the 79th minute.

The Jackrabbits had two shots put on goal in the second half as Kayla Anderson and Reagan Anderson each put up shots that needed to be saved.

SDSU finished off the 1-0 contest with an 11-10 edge in shots. Eckerle and Manding each played the full 90 minutes for the Jacks while Jones competed for 84 and Anderson 83. Tanner snagged five saves in goal for the Jackrabbits. Jadenn Carrillo stepped up to play a team-high 56 minutes off the bench for SDSU as forward Maya Hansen sustained a leg injury in the first half and didn't return to play.

"I thought this was the most consistent performance we've had this year to date," SDSU head coach Brock Thompson said. "I'm proud of our team, they really came after us in the second half. We had to weather that a little bit, but we kept our composure. Proud of our team for playing with the right amount of intensity and intelligence."

Notes

South Dakota State improved to 6-1 overall this season while Grand Canyon dropped to 4-2-1. The 1-0 victory marks the second consecutive year the Jackrabbits beat the Lopes by the score, with SDSU earning a win by the same margin in Phoenix in 2022.
Evans now has three points on the year with a goal and assist now on her stat line.
Tanner holds a 4-1 record in goal this year for SDSU.

Up Next
South Dakota State takes on Green Bay at noon on Sunday at Fishback Soccer Park. The match serves as a team reunion for the 2006 squad that won the program's first conference championship.

-GoJacks.com-