NDSU at University of Minnesota-Crookston – October 15, 2006

NDSU ended their 4-game winless streak in a big way by trouncing the overmatched UMC Golden Eagles on a breezy, sunny October afternoon in Crookston. Although the Bison were playing their second game of the day and only had two substitutes available due to injuries and travel conflicts, they easily controlled the game from start to finish. Selam Ahmed got the scoring started quickly with two goals in the 4th and 10th minutes. Brad Bateman, Dmitri Barabanov and Fernando Bales also joined in on the goal scoring in the first half as the Bison cruised to an easy 5-0 halftime lead. Although NDSU seemed a bit lackadaisical at times, they continued to step their play up when necessary. They moved well without the ball and made some nice passes to open players throughout the opening 45 minutes.

With the large lead, the Bison got to experiment with some players in new positions, yet they managed to score even more in the second half. Zach Schneider, one of the two goalkeepers for the Bison playing out in the field for only the second time this season, proved to be the breakout star of the game. He scored two second half goals and dished out an amazing four assists in the game. Forward Rob Choinere tallied the first two goals of his collegiate career with two incredible shots that clanged off the left goal post and in. Kellen Nesvig and Allen Wilkens also managed to score their first goals of 2006. Bateman and Ahmed each got another goal in the second half as the Bison coasted to the 13-0 victory. Goalkeeper Tom Erickson earned another first—his first collegiate shutout—by making eight saves on the day. The blowout victory improved NDSU’s record to 9-3-3 for 2006 (7-3-3 in the conference) while UMC fell to 1-11.