SIOUX FALLS, S.D.-- Augustana soccer defeated the St. Cloud State Huskies 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the NSIC tournament to advance to the semifinals on Wednesday. Augustana, the second seed, moves to 14-3-2 overall and St. Cloud State, the seventh seed in the NSIC tournament, ends its season with a 7-8-3 overall record. The victory is the 11th straight, a program record, for the Vikings. 

Senior Alexis Legg kicked off the scoring for the Vikings with a header in the eighth minute of action. Legg received a crossed ball from junior Sylvia Fehr and was able to send the ball past the goalkeeper, putting Augustana up early. 

The Vikings increased the lead by one goal after another header in the 25th minute of play. Senior Morgan Keirstead netted the ball after knocking the ball into the lower left corner of the net. Fehr tallied her 15th assist on Keirstead's seventh goal of the season.

The Huskies were able to cut the lead in half in the 81st minute of the contest. St. Cloud State drew a penalty and scored on the free kick.

"Well we won! I guess it's that time of year and that's what it's all about. However, to be honest, I thought our performance was a bit uninspired and slow," said head coach Brandon Barkus. "We had the ball a lot but just didn't seem motivated to really take it to them today. In fairness St. Cloud State was very organized and brought good determination all game and stifled our attack and fought. Coach Arvesen had her team prepared. 

"I do think moving forward we will be able to use today's performance as fuel for our fire, and not forget how important each game really is."

Augustana tallied 10 shots with five being on target. St. Cloud State recorded eight shots on goal and 16 total in the match.

The Vikings travel to Bemidji, Minnesota, for the remainder of the NSIC Tournament. AU will face off against Minnesota State on Friday for the semifinals of the tournament. Kickoff is slated for 11 a.m. Action can be followed at GoAugie.com/Live or on the GoAugie app, presented by CellOnly, found in the app store. 

--GoAugie.com--