Nov. 6—BEMIDJI — Some members of the Bemidji State women’s soccer team couldn’t help but scoreboard watch on Thursday afternoon.
As all 16 NSIC teams completed the regular season, the Beavers could finish no worse than in third place. However, with a win or a St. Cloud State loss, BSU would finish as high as second.
The Huskies took on top-seeded Minnesota State, whose only conference blemish was a 2-2 tie against Bemidji State. But SCSU didn’t hear a bell and beat the Mavericks 1-0 before the Beavers kicked off against Minnesota Duluth at Chet Anderson Stadium.
For some players, it was out of sight and out of mind.
“There were chatters, but we don’t really pay attention to it before the game,” senior Kenzie Harer said. “We wanted to come out here unbiased and completely unaware of that score, because you never know what’ll happen.”
Head coach Jim Stone couldn’t help but look.
“Yeah, I was watching it, to be honest,” Stone said. “It’s one of those things where you know the way you should cheer. At the end of the day, though, our game is the only game that matters to us. You can scoreboard watch all you want. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t. You just have to take care of business.”
Ultimately, the St. Cloud State win was rather meaningless to the Beavers, as they blanked the Bulldogs 2-0 to extend their winning streak to seven games and their unbeaten streak to 11.
In the 20th minute, Katrina Barthelt moved herself into a tie for the NSIC lead in goals.
Ella Wade’s corner kick darted into the box, and Kaycee Chavez made the save on an attempted header. The ball rebounded to Barthelt, and her initial shot was also stopped by Chavez.
The third time was the charm, though, as Barthelt scored her 13th goal on the third shot in the sequence, putting the Beavers ahead 1-0.
Three minutes later, BSU’s second-leading scorer doubled the lead. Harer beat Chavez with an assist from Barthelt.
“Scoring early like that definitely gives us a confidence boost,” Harer said. “But we’re not satisfied with it either. It’s like, OK, we scored, but what else can we bring to this game? Can we get another goal? Can we make this game easier on all of us? I think we have a group that’s always pushing for those things.”
After the back-to-back goals, Bemidji State leaned on its defense, which has been a worthy crutch in its unbeaten streak.
The Beavers were surrendering 0.52 goals per game heading into their tilt with the Bulldogs on Thursday night. In scoring two goals per game, BSU held the second-best scoring margin (1.41) in the NSIC, trailing only Minnesota State, the No. 2 team in the country.
Sonia Alfieri has played a role in the gaudy defensive stats. She’s started 12 matches in goal and holds a 10-0-2 record. Alfieri, a graduate transfer out of Mamer, Luxembourg, has the NSIC’s second-best save percentage (.894) and goals-against average (0.44).
Aflieri’s biggest save came in the 66th minute. She leaped to tip a free kick over the crossbar from 30 yards out to keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard.
“Our defense is amazing,” Harer said. “We have Sonia leading us there in the back. Individually, each person who steps on that field, even on the sidelines, brings so much value. When they’re on the field, everyone is lifted up. You can trust them. You work harder for each other, knowing your defense is so strong and working hard for you. I think it motivates the forwards to score and complete games because defense wins championships and offense wins games.”
After all games were finished, Northern State was the lucky NSIC team that finished in seventh place, earning a date with the Beavers at 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10, at Chet Anderson Stadium. The winner will advance to the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 14, which will be played at the site of the highest remaining seed in the tournament.
Harer was on the team that won the NSIC Tournament two seasons ago. She helped Bemidji State go on a run to the second round in the Central Regional Tournament, and she’s starting to feel the same kind of magic again.
“I think we have a bit of a bigger spark this year,” Harer said. “Collectively, each individual brings so much to this team that I think we can go so far based on how badly each player wants to win.
The Central Region rankings slotted the Beavers in fifth on Wednesday. When asked if he feels comfortable with his positioning, Stone gave a long-winded response.
“I think we have a group that does a lot of things well,” Stone said. “They enjoy each other, for one. They love the game. They want to show up every day for training; it’s not like training is a burden to them. I think they genuinely like showing up. That gives us the opportunity to get better every day because there’s a lot of heart and competitiveness, and I think we’ve had good leadership.
“Then you couple all of that with some talented kids on the roster. When you have all of those things working together, it makes for a pretty good sight.”
Stone then spoke definitively, envisioning the NSIC Tournament.
“The margins are so thin in this sport and our league,” he continued. “You don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but I really like this group a lot. We’re going to be a tough out. We all feel pretty good about our chances.”
Bemidji State 2, Minnesota Duluth 0
UMD 0 0 — 0
BSU 2 0 — 2
Bemidji State — Barthelt 20′; Harer 23′ (Barthelt)
Minnesota Duluth — No scoring.
Saves — Alfieri (BSU) 6; Chavez (UMD) 6.
