The Winona State University Women’s Soccer team took a draw 1-1 against Minot State University in the Winona State home opener of Friday. The match was their fourth home game of the season, after having many matches on the road.  

The Minot Beavers were the first to score on the home field in the first half of the game. Sarah Upton was able to get the unassisted goal 30 yards out from the goal that just slipped from Chloe Swanson, our goalkeeper’s hands.  

Eventually, the early goal made for an exciting game with the two teams going back and forth trying to score for the remainder of the first 45 minutes. Winona State came close multiple times in pursuing a goal.  

Jaida Wiege, Winona State fourth-year from Coon Rapids, Minn. had a pair of shots in the first half. Wiege does what she can do on and off the field to put her team first and win the game. It is Wiege’s last year playing for Winona State, and she plans to leave an impact on the team.  

“I’m going to leave an impact by showing all people, coming up as freshmen and sophomores, juniors, that you know you got to come every day and you got to put in the work and it’ll put out for you in the end,” Wiege said.   

As halftime came along, the Warriors increased their lead in attacks earning a free kick over the Beaver’s on their left side penalty area. Madelynn Drasher took the chance for the team to step up to make the kick. The ball hit the crossbar, but fourth-year Riley Harmon was in the perfect spot to get the rebound off the loose ball and got a score against the Beavers, having it be her fourth team-leading goal of the season and put the score 1-1.  

Harmon wants to leave her last year at Winona with a bang. Having to be a fifth-year staying for a reason, she wants to make her mark tapping into conferences and coming out strong. 

“We’ve beat teams that we haven’t beat last year. So, I think we’re doing a good job of doing that. So we want to be on top this year,” Harmon said.  

For the remaining time of the second half, both teams made attempts to get a goal and take the lead. But having two strong keepers from each team, every ball was put to a stop. The match finished in a draw.  

Winona State moves to 4-2-2 this season and 2-1-2 in NSIC matches. Winona State is next in motion as they go against Concordia University – St. Paul on the Winona turf at Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium on Sept. 30 at 5 p.m.