BEMIDJI – With 20-mile-per-hour winds gusting off the shore of Lake Bemidji, the Bemidji State women’s soccer took separate approaches to each half against Southwest Minnesota State on Sunday.
Going against the wind in the opening 45 minutes, the Beavers were relatively conservative offensively. However, with the wind at its back, BSU pushed and took advantage of the favorable conditions to earn a 2-1 win on Senior Day at Chet Anderson Stadium.
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“When you’re going into (the wind) you’re thinking about being more defensive, getting numbers behind the ball,” head coach Jim Stone said. “You’re almost seeing the half out as opposed to getting on top of the ball. We kind of played the four back against the wind. Then with the wind, we kind of opened up the game a little bit. But Southwest created a bunch of opportunities for themselves against the wind. They put us under some stress and gave us some problems.”
In the 53rd minute, Maggie Kramer booted a free kick deep into the 18-yard box. Katrina Barthelt corralled the ball with her first touch, then half-bicycle kicked Bemidji State’s first goal into the top-right corner of the net for her NSIC-leading seventh goal in nine games.
Barthelt came close in the first half as well despite the wind, peppering four shots toward the SMSU goal.
“The biggest thing is finding chemistry with my teammates,” Barthelt said. “All of the credit goes to them. I don’t get the ball if they don’t put in all the work to get it to me. It’s the whole team, getting the ball up the field, building up and getting that final pass before I put it in the back of the net.”
Barthelt finished the 2023 season with 12 goals. Now in her junior year, she’s pulling ahead of the pack in the NSIC. She has three more goals than St. Cloud State’s Ellie Primerano, Northern State’s Megan Fastenau, Minnesota State’s Maddix Archer and Concordia-St. Paul’s Sammy Ponsonby.
“The exciting thing with Kat is I don’t think she’s peaked yet,” Stone said. “If she’s able to improve a few things in her game, the sky’s the limit for her. The kid scores goals, and we’re definitely fortunate to have her on our team.”
Grace Kittel’s first career goal doubled the Beavers’ lead in the 71st minute. She took a shot on a short first-touch pass from Madisen Fritel from 15 yards out to put Bemidji State ahead 2-0. Emma Huelsnitz also picked up a rare secondary assist.
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“That was incredible,” Kittel said. “The moment just kind of slowed down, and I knew what I needed to do. I wanted to give us the cushion, and I just made it happen. … Last year, I redshirted due to injury. Just getting my rhythm back is huge for me. I’ve been struggling the past few games. I’ve been close (to scoring), hitting the post and everything.”
Malorie Maderak pulled the Mustangs within one in the 80th minute on an unassisted strike. Maderak’s left-footed shot banked off the left post and in past goalkeeper Sonia Alfieri to give SMSU some life with just over 10 minutes left in the contest.
Bemidji State (6-3-0, 4-1-0 NSIC) methodically drained out the final minutes of the game in the attacking third to sweep the weekend and move into second place in the NSIC, while SMSU (1-7-1, 1-3-1 NSIC) dropped to 11th.
“The wind played a factor in allowing us to get sustained pressure in the attacking half,” Stone said. “It’s just understanding the score and clock at that point – when that mindset needs to change to stop attacking and see the game out. Southwest did put some pressure on us toward the end of the game that I think we need to do better with.”
Since dropping its first two games this season in nonconference play, BSU has won six of its last seven contests.
“I really think we’ve just bonded as a team in the last few weeks of training,” Kittel said. “We know what we want, we just have to work for it and work to get better every day.”
“We have a lot going for us,” Barthelt said. “We can play a lot of different ways and put a lot of different people on the field in different combinations. We’re just tweaking stuff now and figuring out the last things we need to perfect.”
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Bemidji State also honored its six seniors who will depart from the program following the 2024 season – Lili Wade, Lauren Hodney, Maria Stocke, Anna Breffle, Lauren Harrison and Miah Olson.
“This class is really special in the way that they’ve helped create the culture we want to sustain,” Stone said. “They’ve created such a positive, healthy-loving culture. You bring a recruit in, and kids want to be part of it. They’re a big piece of that.”
All six BSU seniors started together on Sunday.
“During a pregame today, there were a lot of tears in the room,” Stone continued. “We have this tradition where we kick the seniors out and talk about them individually and everything we appreciate about them. There were a lot of words that were shared that were true and powerful.”
Bemidji State 2, Southwest Minnesota State 1
SMSU 0 1 – 1
BSU 0 2 – 2
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Bemidji State – Barthelt 53’ (Kramer); Kittel 71’ (Fritel, Huelsnitz)
Southwest Minnesota State – Maderak 80’.
Saves – Buettner (BSU) 2; Alfieri (BSU) 6; Hicks (SMSU) 10.
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