Reagan Johnson/Winonan
On Friday, the Winona State University women’s soccer team played their last game of the season against Minot State University in the NCAA Tournament at Jennies Field in Warrensburg, Mo., falling 1-0 in overtime.
This was the Warriors third consecutive appearance at the NCAA Tournament and seventh overall appearance in program history.
Winona State took fifth seed in the tournament while the Beavers took fourth.
After the first half the teams were tied 0-0, forcing the game into overtime. In the 99th minute the Beavers’ Ninfa Ramirez found the top left corner of the net to give Minot State the win.
The loss eliminated the Warriors from the tournament, marking the end of their 2015 season.
The Beavers had the advantage in shots, 14-5, and shots on goal, 7-4.
First-years Chase Rehm and Mackenzie Challoner, junior Meg Riebau and seniors Nicole Sames all posted shots on goal. Senior Mehan Bolton also recorded one shot.
Winona head coach Ali Omar said Minot State played rough and targeted specific players.
“It was actually a well played game on our part,” Omar said. “We defended very well. We had some opportunities to score goals and so did they.”
Omar said the highlight of the season was having a strong group of first-years to help the team score goals.
“Having freshmen like Abby Bohanski getting us to double digit scores again was great. We haven’t had double digit scores since 2010. The fact that she was Freshman of the Year, that was fantastic for the program,” Omar said.
Omar said another thing the team is proud of is having 10 seniors that will graduate with honors.
“The cumulative GPA for all 10 of them is 3.5,” said Omar “For me that’s the biggest win.”
In the past, Omar mentioned how important academics are to the team saying that his players are students first and athletes second.
Winona State ends its season with a 13-6-3 record and a hopeful outlook for next season.
“We’re looking forward to more of the same, great defense. Even though we’ll be graduating most of the defenders we’ll bring in some good defenders and also bring in some kids to score goals and help [Bohanski],” Omar said. “We’ll still have a foundation with Meg Rieabu, Kenzie Rose and Rachel Oleson in the goal.”
Rose and Riebau were both junior starters this year and will be back next season to help lead the team, while Oleson will be starting her third year with the team next season.
Omar said Riebu, Rose, Oleson, Bohanski and Mikaella Sabinash will be the five starters they will be counting on next season.
