WOMEN'S SOCCER: Sara Wendt nets hat trick as Beavers win 4th straight
Oct. 17—SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — When a player scores three goals in a game, her team probably has a good chance to win.
That's exactly what happened for the Bemidji State women's soccer team on Sunday in Sioux Falls, S.D. Sara Wendt scored three in a row for the Beavers, and that powered them to a 4-1 victory over Sioux Falls, their fourth straight triumph in the NSIC.
USF (0-10-5, 0-7-5) actually struck first, as Addison Westermeyer gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead with a goal in the 13th minute. That didn't last long on Wendt's watch, though. She buried an unassisted strike in the 14th minute to tie the contest 1-1, then gave BSU (9-2-4, 8-1-3) the lead with a score off Megan Dahl's assist in the 56th.
Wendt wasn't done, either, completing the natural hat trick with another goal off Maria Stocke's assist for a 3-1 advantage in the 62nd minute. The three-score individual display was Bemidji State's first since Rachel Norton did it in 2015.
Stocke added an insurance goal in the 86th minute off Allyson Smith's assist to secure the victory. Smith now sits just two assists short of breaking the program career record.
Georgiana Harber finished with three saves for BSU, while Sioux Falls' Holli Knudsen collected 12.
The Beavers next match up against U-Mary at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21, in Bismarck, N.D., before returning home to host Minot State at noon on Sunday, Oct. 23, at Chet Anderson Stadium.
Bemidji State 4, Sioux Falls 1
BSU 1 3 — 4
USF 1 0 — 1
First half — 1, USF GOAL, Westermeyer (Vargas), 13'; 2, BSU GOAL, Wendt (unassisted), 14'.
Second half — 3, BSU GOAL, Wendt (Dahl), 56'; 4, BSU GOAL, Wendt (Stocke), 62'; 5, BSU GOAL, Stocke (Smith), 86'.
Saves — Harber (BSU) 3; Knudsen (USF) 12.
