Vikings Advance to Regional Semi-Finals

The Dana College women’s soccer team advanced to the semi-finals in the NAIA Region III soccer tournament last week.  Dana defeated Doane College 1-0 on Tuesday afternoon in Blair.  The Vikings then lost to top seed Morningside College 4-2 in the semi-finals on Friday.

The Vikings hosted the Doane Tigers on Tuesday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Region III tournament.  The Vikings played better in the opening half as they held a 5-2 shot advantage, but were unable to put a ball in the back of the net.  Kara Fox (JR, Omaha, Neb.) finally got the Vikings on the board at the 58^th minute mark of the game.  Fox stole an errant pass and the slipped a shot into the far corner of the goal.  This would be the only goal of the game.  Ashley Armstrong (SO, Castle Rock, Colo.) faced only four shots and made two critical saves to preserve the win.

“This was a great game by our defense today,” said Head Coach Shad Beam.  “The ladies played great and did not lose focus on our task at hand.  Aimee (Kersigo) made sure everything was well organized and cleaned up any mistakes that were made.”

The victory placed the Vikings in the Region III semi-finals against Morningside College on Friday afternoon.  The Mustangs are the 2007 Great Plains Athletic Conference women’s soccer champions and top seed in the regional tournament.

Dana got off to a quick start on Friday afternoon.  Michelle Mullen (FR, Omaha, Neb.) chipped the opening kick off to Jessica Niemeier (FR, Omaha, Neb.) who then hit a quick shot and put the Vikings up 1-0 in the first 16 seconds of the match. 

The Vikings were unable to keep the Mustangs down for long.  Morningside came roaring back with two goals in a nine-minute span midway through the first half.  Dana was out shot 12-4 in the first half.  Morningside then stretched its lead to 3-1 early in the second half. 

The young Vikings responded and took the attack to the Mustangs. Fox got behind the Morningside defense, but had her shot deflected away by the Mustang keeper.  Jessie Haffke (SO, Papillion, Neb.) collected the deflected shot and placed it past a sprawling keeper. 

Dana continued to pepper the Morningside goalkeeper, but was unable to draw even.  Morningside put the game out of reach with their fourth goal with four minutes remaining to end the Vikings’ remarkable season.

“This was a great showing for our young team,” said Beam.  “We proved that we can play with the best teams not only in the conference, but the region.  This is just our first step to reclaiming our place at the top of the conference.”

The Vikings finish their season at 12-8, which was the most wins since the 2003 season.  This was the first season for Head Coach Shad Beam.

For More Information, please contact: 

Shad Beam, Sports Information Director, 402-426-7389 or sbeam@dana.edu