Minnesota Morris upsets top-seeded Northland to win UMAC women's soccer tournament
ASHLAND, Wis.---Both No. 1 Northland College and No. 3 University of Minnesota Morris needed overtime heroics to advance to the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) title game Wednesay. That wasn't the case Saturday, though, as Minnesota Morris needed just 45 minutes in the second half to score two unanswered goals en route to claiming their first UMAC postseason title since 2006.
Following a scoreless first half, the Cougars mustered up enough offense to earn a 2-0 decision and the conference's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA women's soccer tournament for the first time in program history. The win is also the fourth UMAC tournament title for Cougar women's soccer.
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Box Score |
The first half saw Northland control a majority of play with several corner kick opportunities but solid goaltending from keeper Torri Jordan. Neither team could find a way to break through, though, as the game entered the half scoreless.
The tides changed quickly when the Cougars came out strong in the second half before Molly Hancuh scored on a direct corner kick to beat keeper Emily Romuald and put Minnesota Morris up 1-0 in the 50th minute.
Northland continued to press in the second half and even had four consecutive corner kick opportunities that they failed to convert. The Cougars then took advantage of the LumberJills attack when Brooke Lorentz got in behind the defenders and scored with less than four minutes to play to lock up the conference playoff crown for the Cougars.
The Cougars won in large part to senior keeper Torri Jordan who was solid in net for the second straight game with five saves on the day. Combined with her 24 saves, Jordan tallied two shutouts in the UMAC tournament to earn the honor of Tournament MVP.
With the win, the Cougars will represent the UMAC in the NCAA postseason and they will learn their fate Monday during the NCAA selection show at 12:30 p.m. on
NCAA.com.
All tournament information including scores, recaps, team information and more can be found on the
UMAC Women’s Soccer Tournament page. Keep up with all of the tournament action on
Twitter and
Instagram using
#UMACchamp.
Playoff Schedule
Quarterfinal Round – Monday, Oct. 31
No. 5 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 4 Northwestern, 2-1 OT |
Box Score |
UNW Recap |
BLC Recap |
Semifinal Round – Wednesday, Nov. 2
No. 1 Northland def. No. 5 Bethany Lutheran, 2-1 2OT |
Box Score |
BLC Recap |
NC Recap |
No. 3 Minnesota Morris def. No. 2 St. Scholastica, 0-0, advance 3-2 in shootout |
Box Score |
CSS Recap |
UMM Recap |
Championship – Saturday, Nov. 5
No. 3 Minnesota Morris def. No. 1 Northland,2-0 |
Box Score |
UMM Recap |
NC Recap |