NSU soccer moms take the field

Oct. 16–At least one Northern State soccer mom ran last week in preparation for the big match in Aberdeen Sunday.

Twice, in fact.

So it went for the NSU soccer moms as they took the field in an exhibition match during halftime of their daughters’ match during Minnesota-Crookston. The idea was to create more interest and a bigger crowd for the NSU home, on-campus soccer match at Jerde Field, where the Wolves and Crookston played to a 0-0 draw in double overtime.

The moms had no problems scoring goals, especially the white team, which won the few minutes of scrimmage 8-0.

“They probably need to re-evaluate how they choose teams,” joked NSU coach Steve Kehm.

To increase the action, two balls were used at the same time, which probably had something to do with the eight goals. Everyone seemed to enjoy the halftime entertainment.

“It was a great event,” Kehm said. “Kudos to NSU sports marketing students for coming up with the idea and executing it. Everyone enjoyed it, players and spectators alike.”

Here is a list from NSU of the moms who participated with their daughter’s name in parentheses:

Emily Tugas (Khachirha), Ginger Sharp (Steph), Monica Tietz (Brittany), Erica Stein (Shaina), Tammy Lopez (Mara and Tia), Monica Boisner (Andrea), Lisa Wanous (Amber), Sheri Johnston (Allison), Teresa Peterson (Hilary), Suzanne Wilde (Alyssa), Deb Macdonald (Allie), Michelle Bailey (Kay Hernandez), Sandra Bruno (Elle), Monica Kirsch (Shayli) and Lisa Bondy (Anna).

The Northern women will continue their home stand this weekend as they take on the University of Sioux Falls at noon Saturday and Southwest Minnesota State at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Competitive Wolves

From the beginning, the Northern State football program has been competitive under coach Tom Dosch.

Dosch has coached the Wolves in 39 games, and one-third of them have been decided by eight points or fewer. After a 2-9 first season in 2010, the Wolves have gone 13-15 under Dosch and have won eight of their last 14. NSU went 5-28 from 2008-10.

Another great stat for NSU is the Wolves have blocked nine kicks in the past 15 games. That is a ton for a college football team.

NSU will host Bemidji State at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Swisher Field.

It has been a wild season for the Wolves (2-4), as five of its six games have been decided by eight points or less. In the last two seasons, seven NSU games have been decided in the final seconds:

Oct. 12: Minot State went ahead 21-14 with just under two minutes left. The Wolves got the ball back with 1:51 left and went on an 11-play, 65-yard touchdown drive. NSU QB Jared Jacobson threw a 1-yard pass to Michael Alberts for the score to make it 21-20 with four seconds left. Jacobson then ran in the two-point conversion to give NSU a 22-21 win.

Oct. 5: Moorhead defeated NSU 47-46 in a game with seven lead changes. Moorhead scored two TDs in the final 9 minutes and picked off an NSU pass in the final seconds inside their own 20.

Sept. 21: Upper Iowa scored with 35 seconds left for a 24-17 win.

Sept. 7: NSU edged Wayne State 29-27 in triple overtime. The Wolves used a 14-point fourth-quarter rally to send the game into OT. In the third OT, Tanner White scored on a TD catch and Terrell Walker on a game-winning two-point conversion catch from Jacobson. The NSU defense forced an incompletion on Wayne State’s conversion attempt to tie the game.

Oct. 20, 2012: St. Cloud scored three TDs in the final 10 minutes, the last with 42 seconds left to move ahead 27-21. NSU senior Mason Thorstad blocked the point-after-TD kick. As time ran out, Jacobson hit Mark Hanley with a 34-yard TD pass. Felipe Alfaia kicked the game-winning PAT to give the Wolves a 28-27 win.

Sept. 22, 2012: Thorstad blocked a PAT kick to preserve a 24-23 NSU win over Concordia-St. Paul.

Sept. 8, 2012: Southwest Minnesota State kicked a 26-yard field goal as time expired to beat the Wolves 32-30.

John Papendick is the managing news-sports editor for the American News: [email protected]

Twitter: @jpapendick