Panthers drop two games in South Dakota

BRANDON TJEPKES, Sports Editor

The UNI women’s soccer team went on the road this weekend to play South Dakota State and South Dakota. UNI lost both with a score of 1-0 in each game.

The Panthers had two early attempts to get on the board. Brynell Yount got a shot out in the fifth minute, but the attempt went wide off target. Jackrabbits goalkeeper, Nicole Inskeep, blocked Hannah McDevitt’s shot in the twelfth minute. The Jackrabbits tried to retaliate with two early shots of their own, but both attempts failed to get in target.

Jackrabbits Brittany Jensen had a chance to score in the thirty-ninth minute, but Panthers goalkeeper Whitney Blunt made the save. SDSU’s Inskeep made another save in the forty-third minute by blocking Mary Brandt’s shot. The first half ended scoreless.

Yount started off the second half with a shot attempt in the fifty-fourth minute, but Inskeep saved the shot. The Panthers had two chances before the seventieth minute, but both Brandt’s and McHugh’s shots were off target.

With the game winding down, Annie Dale and Erinoelle Clifton attempted shots at the eighty-eighth and eighty-ninth minutes, respectively, but Inskeep was there again to save both shots. In the ninetieth minute, SDSU’s Julia Lam scored to bring the Jackrabbits 1-0 victory.

The Panthers traveled again to play South Dakota on Sunday.

UNI had an early chance in the tenth minute, but Brandt’s shot was blocked by Coyotes goalkeeper Sydney Hardin. Dale attempted a shot five minutes later but it was high-off target. Whitney Blunt added another save as she blocked USD’s Cory Strang. The Coyotes had one more chance in the half to score, but Makenzie Burmeister’s shot was wide off target. The half ended, 0-0.

The Panthers had two quick chances to score in the sixty-first minute, but Brandt’s shot was saved by Hardin and Dale’s attempt was wide off target. USD’s Danielle Anderson scored off a header in the seventy-seventh minute to bring the 1-0 eventual  final score.

The Panthers (4-4-3) will travel again on Saturday to Springfield to take on Missouri State Bears (7-4-1) at 5 p.m.