MINNEAPOLIS--Becky Dellaria scored two second-half goals to lift the University of Minnesota (7-10-0) over North Dakota State on Sunday, Oct. 24.  A crowd of 603, including a strong contingent of Bison faithful, watched the Bison (5-9-1) battle the Big Ten Gophers to a 1-1 slate heading into intermission, only to see Dellaria and the Gophers come away from Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium with the team's seventh win of the season.

The Gophers opened scoring when Haley Lentsch notched her fourth goal of the season past diving Bison goalkeeper Kelli Reed.  The ball snuck through for an early Gopher lead at the 15-minute mark.

NDSU rebounded when freshman standout Michelle Martinez side-stepped a defender and blasted a shot from 35 yards out that struck the top of the cross bar and bounced in at the 39-minute mark.  Martinez's fourth goal of the season came courtesy of an assist from junior Olivia Cole. 

The first half ended deadlocked with the Gophers holding a shot advantage of nine to five.  The Bison stalemated numerous attempts by Gopher strikers Dellaria and Laura Hoppe with timely defense from Cole and Brooke Hartman who stopped scoring chances late in the first half.

Minnesota recaptured the lead when Dellaria's arching shot from the right side sailed through the fingertips of an awaiting Reed in goal at 55:27.

With five minutes left, Dellaria scored again when she took a pass from Lentsch and fired in her second goal of the match. 

The Bison finished with nine shot attempts, including four on goal.  The Gophers took 18 shots and placed eight on goal.  Molly Schneider stopped three shots to earn the win for Minnesota.  Reed denied five shots for the Bison.

“It was nice to be in Minnesota, with so many girls from the state,” said head coach Pete Cuadrado, whose roster boasts 14 players from the state.  Victoria, Minnesota native Brooke Hartman was honored before kickoff with a ceremony recognizing the lone senior on this year's Bison squad. 

“We attacked the ball well today and created some much better chances,” Cuadrado said.  “At the beginning of the year, our goal was to be competitive with this schedule.  We've moved past that, where we don't want to be just competitive.  We've been in a number of close matches.  We're definitely competing well.”

NDSU closes out the season with two games in California.  First, NDSU plays the University of California-Davis on Friday, Nov. 5.  Then, the season finale with Cal State-Hayward is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 7.