BROOKINGS – A pair of second half goals lifted South Dakota State to its sixth-consecutive win Thursday night, as the Jackrabbit soccer team took down IPFW 2-0 at Fishback Soccer Park.
SDSU (8-4-3, 4-0) outshot the Mastodons, 24-6, as Leah Manuleleua and Rachel Hewitt scored off a pair of set pieces. Jennie Scislow, Julia Lam and Darien Poelstra recorded assists for a Jackrabbit program that continued its stay in first-place of the Summit League standings.
"I'm happy with the way we responded," SDSU coach Brock Thompson said. "I didn't think we were at our best on Sunday in the road game. The consistent theme for our team tonight is that we played with energy and enthusiasm, and that produced some pretty good soccer for spells, so it was a step in the right direction for us tonight."
Manuleleua, Hewitt and Bianca Madonia paced the team with four shots each, while Nicole Hatcher fired three attempts in the game.
Maggie Smither played all 90 minutes between the pipes, tallying three saves while posting her fourth shutout of the year.
Even at the break, SDSU struck early in the second off a corner kick from Scislow, finding the feet of Manuleleua at the near post for a one-touch score at 47:02.
Twenty minutes later, the Jackrabbits extended the lead to 2-0 on their sixth corner kick of the night. In the 69th frame, Lam's corner kick went towards the top of the box and connected with Darien Poelstra, who headed the ball towards the net where Hewitt finished the scoring opportunity towards the far post.
South Dakota State travels to Tulsa, Okla., this Sunday to face Oral Roberts at 1 p.m.
