NDSU at University of North Dakota – September 3, 2005

The Bison opened their 2005 campaign with a 4-2 win over an improved UND team in Grand Forks. It was a great afternoon for soccer, but NDSU started their afternoon rather slowly. The Fighting Sioux took advantage of a first half wind at their backs, as well as their speed up front, to get past the Bison defense and keeper Nate Fitterer just 90 seconds into the game. With a couple of quick passes and an excellently placed shot, UND took a 1-0 lead in the second minute. The Sioux continued to dominate the game for the next 15 minutes, as the Bison struggled to connect passes and mount any semblance of an attack. In the 18th minute, NDSU finally built their first solid attack of the game, and they were quickly rewarded. Captain Nathan Shubert was taken down in the box, resulting in a penalty kick. Eric Stanley easily put the kick away and tied the score at 1-1. UND struck back and regained the lead 6 minutes later, when a quick forward got behind the defense and took advantage of the out-of-position Fitterer. The Sioux took the 2-1 lead into halftime, but NDSU came back strong in the second half. The Bison were definitely outplayed for much of the first half, but the next 45 minutes were a different story. In the 61st minute, midfielder Pat Beaver sent a wonderful through pass to Shubert, who walked the ball past the UND keeper and tied the game. Fifteen minutes later, the Bison took the lead for good when Shubert finished a great series of passes off to freshman Thomas Larson, who put a great left footed shot in the far corner. After a couple of close calls by UND in attempts to tie the game back up, NDSU put the game away with 3 minutes remaining. Selam Ahmed took a shot on goal that the Sioux goalkeeper mishandled, and midfielder Dmitri Barabanov jumped on the opportunity and buried the ball into the net. The GPSC conference win put NDSU’s record to 1-0 and UND’s record to 0-1.