VERMILLION, S.D. -- Freshman Karleen Yapello scored the golden goal with less than two minutes remaining in overtime, lifting the University of North Dakota soccer team to a 1-0 victory over South Dakota on Sunday afternoon.
The goal was the first for Mahotmedi, Minn., native and was also the first of the year for UND, as the Fighting Hawks played to a scoreless tie to open the season on Friday against Northern Iowa.
“Early on in the first half you could definitely tell who played an overtime game on Friday,” head coach Matt Kellogg said. “We came out a bit sluggish and were missing some easy passes. We made some adjustments for the second half and the game really started to open up.
“A Lot of credit goes to our back line and goalkeeper for keeping us in the game and giving us time to finish our chances.”
Freshman keeper Catherine Klein earned her first start in net and finished the game with nine saves for her first collegiate shutout. The back-to-back shutouts by UND is a first since the 2011 season, and also marks the first time the team has gone undefeated over a weekend since 2012.
South Dakota started the contest outshooting UND, 6-4, and had a handful of good looks on net. But neither side wanted to give in first throughout regulation and after 90 minutes of play, North Dakota found itself heading to overtime for the second-straight game.
Yapello made her collegiate debut in the contest, coming off the bench in the second half for UND. She would late re-enter the game with five minutes remaining in the second overtime.
“Karleen had been creating havoc all game long with her work rate,” head coach Matt Kellogg said. “We had a feeling that she could create something in overtime, either for herself of for a teammate, and she did just that.”
Shortly after Yapello came in, UND was awarded a corner kick. Sophomore Kennedy Kidd took the kick, and after the ball was jostled around in front of the goal, it found its way to the foot of Yapello at the top of the box, who then finished off the play by putting the ball into the back of the net just under the crossbar for the win.
North Dakota now sits at 1-0-1 to start the season and will return to the field on Friday to take on Minnesota in Minneapolis. Game time against the Gophers is set for 7 p.m. (CT).
