FARGO, N.D. - The North Dakota State women's soccer team beat South Dakota 2-1 Sunday afternoon, as the Bison won their Summit League opener for the fifth-straight year.

The Bison improved to 6-4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Summit League, while South Dakota dropped to 5-8 overall and 0-2 in league play. The Bison hit the road for a pair of matches next week, facing Omaha on Thursday and Oral Roberts on Sunday.

"There is a lot on the line with points," head coach Mike Regan said. "It's important that we prepare ourselves properly. It's important that we put ourselves in position by playing well and we certainly did that today."

Two first half goals were enough for the Bison offense in the victory, while putting together a strong defensive effort in the second half. Freshman Lavin Douglass started the scoring in the first half, as she stole a pass between a pair of defenders and found the bottom right corner for her first career goal in the 11th minute. In the 28th minute, Mariah Haberle stole a pass before a quick pass to Elyse Huber. Haberle then drilled a shot into the upper right corner, giving the Bison a 2-0 lead with her third goal of the season. It was the first assist of the year for Huber, who leads the Bison with 10 goals scored.

In the 35th minute, Tiannah Moore dribbled up the right side for the Coyotes before finding Kellee Willer for her third goal of the year. The ball slid into the bottom right corner, cutting the Bison lead to 2-1. 

"It was a fantastic win," Regan added. "More importantly, it was a great performance. The first half we were absolutely superb. Offensively we were unbelievable and the way we defended as a group was great."

Huber, Haberle and Laura Powell each had five shots for the Bison, a career-high for Powell. Monica Polgar finished with four saves in the net.

NDSU held an 18-3 advantage in shots in the first half, while the Coyotes had an 11-3 advantage in the second half. The Bison improved to 13-2-1 all-time against South Dakota, while the Bison are now 14-3-1 under Regan when scoring the first goal of the match.