Three first half goals from the UMKC women’s soccer team proved to be enough to hand defending Summit League champions South Dakota State their second loss of the season on Friday night.
“This was an amazing team win tonight,” head coach Chris Cissell said. “SDSU went to the NCAA tournament last year and returned all of their starters. We knew we were going to have to give a great team effort, and that is exactly what we did.”
It took just three and a half minutes for the ‘Roos (4-1-0) to get on the board, after a gorgeous corner kick from freshman midfielder Reighan Childers sailed over the heads of multiple SDSU (2-2-0) defenders and landed at the feet of junior defender Emily Herndon, who tapped home the opening goal. The goal was the 13th of Herndon’s career, which moved her into second place all-time in the ‘Roos record book.
UMKC quickly added to their lead, just 11 minutes later, when freshman forward Lexie Howard took a pass from sophomore forward Nikki Lynch just inside the attacking-third, beat a defender, and drilled a laser at the goalkeeper who couldn’t contain the ball, and it bounced over her head and in for the ‘Roos second goal of the game, and Howard’s second of the season.
The ‘Roos controlled possession the majority of the first half, tallying six shots, with the last one of the half putting UMKC up 3-0 heading into the intermission. Freshman Ryann Burnett went on a run after sophomore Lilly Cobb settled a loose ball and Cobb found Burnett 10 yards inside the midline. From there, Burnett was off to the races, beating multiple defenders and sailing one past the keeper for her first-career goal.
UMKC gave up a quick goal after the break, with SDSU scoring in the 47th minute, but the ‘Roos defense shored up from that point forward and put away the Jackrabbits for their fourth victory of the season, adding to their best start in program history.
“There is a reason we put them on the schedule,” Cissell said. “We knew we wanted to face NCAA tournament-caliber teams. They played great but we jumped out to an early lead and held on from there. This was the first of four games against teams that made the tournament last year, and if we play like we did tonight I think we will continue to see the results we want.”
The ‘Roos return to action on Sunday afternoon when they match up against UT Martin. The game is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. at Durwood Soccer Stadium with a Live Stream available through Roos TV at UMKCKangaroos.com/LiveEvents with T.J. Jackson on the call.