On Sunday, the Jackrabbit Soccer team will compete for the Summit League Championship.

Dakota News Now, Fargo, NDOn Thursday, Nov. 7, at Dacotah Field, South Dakota State defeated Denver 2-1 in the Summit League Women’s Soccer Championship Semifinals to progress to the tournament final. Exactly two weeks after Denver defeated SDSU 2-1 in Brookings, the Jackrabbits and Pioneers faced off again on the North Dakota State campus. The Pioneer onslaught was repelled by the Jacks, who came out strong and had two shots on goal in the first 20 minutes. In the 29th minute, Hailee Christensen was fouled in the box, earning the team a penalty kick. When defender Kaycee Manding stepped up for the penalty kick and executed it, SDSU took an early lead.The game-winning goal was scored by Denver’s Payten Ivins at Fishback Soccer Park in the previous meeting, but he narrowly missed two equalisers in the last minutes of the first half. SDSU led 1-0 at halftime with a 5-0 lead in shots on goal, and South Dakota State scored the game-winning goal in the 61st minute after Denver’s Molly Wissman saved Christensen’s first attempt, which deflected high into the air just in front of the goal. Jackrabbit midfielder Avery LeBlanc waited for the ball to land, and she booted a right-footed shot into the nett to put SDSU ahead 2-0. The Jackrabbit defence tried to keep the two-goal lead as the Pioneers racked up two yellow cards. halft cards and three offside calls in pursuit of a goal of its own. Denver was able to cut the deficit to one in the 89th minute as Jadyn Goodrich scored to make it 2-1. The Pioneers recorded two more shots in the waning moments, but SDSU was able to hold off any equalizing attempts and closed the match out with a 2-1 victory.