Rams use five second-half goals to down North Dakota State

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Colorado State women's soccer team recovered from a 1-0 deficit at halftime to score five second-half goals and defeat the North Dakota State Bison, 5-1, on Sunday from the new CSU Soccer Field.

Freshman forward Karli Eheart led the Rams with a pair of goals on Sunday. The freshman scored the go-ahead goal and the eventual game-winner for the Rams in the 56th minute, capitalizing on a Bison turnover at the top of their own 18-yard box. After forcing the turnover, Ally Murphy-Pauletto passed the ball through the Bison back line to Eheart, who shot left-to-right across the goal for the score.

Trailing 1-0 after a goal by NDSU's Malley O'Brien in the 14th minute, CSU midfielder Caeley Lordemann scored her first goal in a Ram uniform to tie the match at one all. On a corner kick situation in the 54th minute, CSU's Makenzi Taylor served the ball to the back-left post, where Lordemann collected the ball and fired it to the bottom right corner of the net.

The Rams extended their lead to two when Eheart scored her second career goal in the 58th minute. The Aurora, Colo., native made a well-timed run to get behind the Bison defense, receive a pass from CSU senior midfielder Maddi Rodriguez and shoot the ball underneath the diving NDSU goalkeeper, Julia Edelstein.

Colorado State added two more tallies to put the game away in the late stages of the second half. Lexi Swenson scored the Rams' fourth goal of the day in the 63rd minute and the first of her career after redirecting a cross from Taylor into the back right of the net. 23 minutes later, Kallie Clements received a pass from Madisann Relph and beat NDSU's Edelstein on a shot to the lower-right corner of the net.

CSU goalkeeper Hunter Peifer made one save with a goal allowed in just over 85 minutes played on Sunday. The Rams outshot the Bison, 14-9, in the match and held an 11-4 shots on goal advantage. Eheart led the Rams with three shots (all on goal), while each of Emma Shinsky (two shots on goal) and Hannah Gerdin (one shot on goal) each attempted a pair of shots.

IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State head coach Bill Hempen
On the team's second half performance
"We played with some more desire and some more urgency. We're a program that has to play like it's the last game we're ever going to get a chance to play. We have to prove that we're worthy to wear the jersey for goodness'-sake. They did. They've got that. I'm glad they responded that way, because that team (North Dakota State) was fighting. They had not won a game, had not scored a goal before today and they were playing with more grit than we were. We answered in the second half. I'm pleased with the result."

On Karli Eheart's ability to score on Sunday
"She has a bit of a gift that a lot of people don't know she has - she's fast. A lot of teams we'll play against don't have a back that can hold her. In her case it's okay to play a ball behind a defender and let her run by them. She can grow by just being more sophisticated when she is close to goal, knowing whether that's to stick it or to play a teammate out in front of goal."

Freshman forward Karli Eheart
On the difference for the Rams between the first and second half:
"I think for the first half we may have been tired, we weren't in it. We were trying something different and we really just weren't in it all the way. In the second half we realized this isn't how good we can be and we played the way we know how to."

On her two goals on Sunday:
"I think we turned more to possession and trying to keep it (the ball). The opportunities really came from that, and rather than trying to force it, we let the ball do the work. That buildup set up the open plays for easy finishes."

NOTES
- Before the 2017 season the Rams had never previously scored five goals. The Rams also scored five goals earlier this season against New Mexico State (Sept. 1).
- Colorado State's five total assists as a team are its most in a single match in program history (four vs. New Mexico State on Sept. 1, 2017).
- Karli Eheart is the fifth player in CSU's five-year history to score multiple goals in a single match. The others were Ally Murphy-Pauletto (vs. New Mexico State on Sept. 1, 2017, Hannah Gerdin (at Air Force on Oct. 4, 2015), Lizzy Gogolowski (at Northern Colorado on Nov. 1, 2013) and Taylor Nelson (at Northern Colorado on Sept. 13, 2015).
- Each of Kallie Clements, Karli Eheart and Lexi Swenson scored their first career goals on Sunday.
- Caeley Lordemann's goal in the 54th minute on Sunday's match was her first with Colorado State.

UP NEXT
The Colorado State women's soccer team starts a three-game stretch on the road next weekend with a 12 p.m. MT (1 p.m. CT) match on Sunday at Kansas State. The Rams open Mountain West play the week after at Air Force (7 p.m. MT on Sept. 22) and at Colorado College (1:30 p.m. MT on Sept. 24).

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