BOX SCORE

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 23 Augustana soccer had its three-game winning streak come to a close on Sunday in a 2-1 loss  to Southwest Minnesota State. The Vikings closed out their regular season with a record of 14-4 (12-3 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference), while the Mustangs finished at 10-7-1 (9-5-1 NSIC) with the victory.

Augustana, already locking up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming US Bank/NSIC Tournament with a win this past Friday, had multiple scoring chances that they just couldn't take advantage of  in the match.

The Vikings' second-place finish in conference play is their highest finish ever in the NSIC.

Stephanie Stevens scored Augustana's lone goal on the day, upping her season total to six.

SMSU's Miranda Cadena netted both goals for her team in the win. Cadena, last year's Daktronics Central Region Player of the Year, now has 13 goals on the year for Southwest Minnesota State as it picked up its first win against the Vikings in over a decade.

"They came out really fast and scored very early, and I think that had a huge impact on the rest of the match," Stevens said. "We need to find the right balance of knowing when to turn up the aggression, and when to take a step back and relax and execute our offense the way we know we are capable of."

The Mustangs took hold of the lead very early, scoring just 23 seconds into the contest to take a 1-0 lead over Augustana. Cadena took charge on a counterattack and fired the ball past Ashley Limmer and into the back of the net.

The Vikings had a great scoring chance late in the first half when Payton Pry had a breakaway and saw her shot on goal stopped by SMSU goalkeeper Briana Dehkes, keeping the one-goal lead alive heading into half for Southwest Minnesota State.

In the second half, the Mustangs extended their lead to two after Cadena notched her second goal of the match at the 54:02 mark.

Augustana got things going late in the half when Stevens' goal cut the SMSU lead to one in the 79th minute of regulation. Stevens scored from about 18 yards out in the center of the box.

The Vikings would get a couple decent chances after that, but nothing was able to get past Southwest Minnesota State, losing 2-1.

Augustana will be back in action on Wednesday as they host the No. 7 seed in the quarterfinal of the NSIC Tournament at Morstad Field.