MISSOULA, Mont. – Senior forward Katie Moller reintroduced herself to the Big Sky Conference on Friday afternoon, breaking a scoreless tie midway through the second half to help North Dakota defeat Idaho, 1-0, to open the Montana Invitational.
Moller worked her way behind the defense and tucked a shot just between the goalkeeper and the right post in the 55th minute to propel the Fighting Hawks (3-0-0) to their first-ever victory over the Vandals (1-3-0).
"Today was a good win against a strong Idaho team," said Logan following the match. "The new staff there are doing a great job and we really had to compete and stay organized to get the result."
Olivia Swenson was sharp in the cage in her third start, turning in her third clean sheet of the season and extending her shutout streak to 255 minutes with five saves. The team scoreless streak of 270:00 is the longest to begin a season in program history.
It was a back-and-forth opening half with both sides getting good looks towards goal. UND had a pair of quality chances when Moller and Megan Wright both fired rockets on the net, but were turned aside by the Idaho keeper.
The Fighting Hawks were outshot, 5-4, through 45 minutes but all four shots were on goal compared to just two for Idaho.
"We were disappointed not to score in the first half as Katie [Moller] and Megan [Wright] both had great chances," echoed Logan. "In the second, Katie scored a fantastic goal and we were able to hold on."
After a Swenson save to begin the second half, Moller deposited her third tally of the season in the 55th minute to give the Fighting Hawks a 1-0 lead. Moller has now scored in seven of her last nine regular season matches dating back to last season, including three straight to begin 2018.
Idaho cranked up the pressure over the final 35 minutes searching for the equalizer, but Swenson and the UND backline stood tall to the task to keep the Vandals off the board.
Swenson turned aside a final pair of shots over the last six minutes, including a stop in the final second to cement the victory for UND.
"We lost some control after the goal and that is something we will try to address in the future," said Logan. "Overall, we are happy with this result on the road and hope we can continue getting better moving into Sunday."
The Fighting Hawks close the weekend with a showdown against another Big Sky Conference foe, Montana, on Sunday afternoon from Missoula.
NOTES: Moller's goal was her 19th goal at UND, tying her with Rhaya Ballon (2009-12) for fifth all-time at North Dakota … Swenson's shutout was the sixth of her career, matching Kristi Hestdalen's (2011-14) mark for fifth in school history … UND joins the 2001 and 2005 teams as the only programs to begin the year 3-0-0 with the trio of wins coming away from Grand Forks … Chris Logan moves to 5-3-3 in nonconference play at UND … A win over Montana on Sunday would be the first in Missoula for the program.
