NDSU at Jamestown College – September 13, 2006

The Bison traveled to Jamestown on a warm September Wednesday evening and picked up a 2-0 victory over the Jimmies of Jamestown College. The Bison looked great throughout the first 10 minutes of the game, stringing together passes with ease and moving well off of the ball. This great play led to a handful of early scoring opportunities, but NDSU couldn’t capitalize on some point-blank shots. Unfortunately, the solid play didn’t last long, as the Bison repeatedly made the game tougher on themselves throughout the rest of the first half. NDSU started to make poor passing decisions by missing open players and frequently passing into double coverage. The defense was solid for the most part, preventing Jamestown from mounting much of an attack in the first 45 minutes. Although NDSU was the more talented team, the sloppy play resulted in a scoreless first half.

The Bison came out with a lot more aggression in the second half, and they were rewarded just 4 minutes in. As Dan Salyards was lining up a shot in Jamestown’s penalty area, he was taken down by a hard foul, resulting in a penalty kick. Defender Bob Smith tucked the shot into the lower right corner of the net for the game’s first goal. NDSU dominated play for the majority of the second half, but they could not find the back of the net no matter how hard they tried. The shooting touch of the entire team left plenty to be desired, as the Bison squandered a significant amount of opportunities with poor shooting. The Jimmies were able to create a couple scoring opportunities, but Bison freshman goalkeeper Zach Schneider made some nice saves to preserve the first shutout of his collegiate career. In the 89th minute, NDSU finally scored a goal from the run of play thanks to an excellent series of passing. Salyards, Garett Johnson and Brad Bateman made consecutive great passes throughout the midfield, followed by Bateman dumping off the ball for forward Selam Ahmed. Ahmed dribbled past the Jamestown keeper and tapped the ball in the net to finally get on the board with his seventh shot of the night. The victory raises the Bison’s record to 2-0-1 on the 2006 season.