Women’s Soccer defeats Presentation to advance to NSAA Championship

JAMESTOWN, N.D. -- Senior Betsy Fischenich scored three goals and the Bruin defense pitched their 10^th clean sheet of the season as the Bellevue University women's soccer team defeated Presentation College, 3-0, in Friday's North Star Athletic Association Semifinal.

With the win, Bellevue (12-3-0) advances to Sunday's championship match against Viterbo at 11 a.m. The winner of that game will secure the North Star's automatic bid to the 2015 NAIA Women's Soccer National Tournament.

Bellevue didn't pose an excessive amount of threats in the early going, as the shots were about even in the first 15 minutes of the match. The Bruins ramped up the pressure from there as Fischenich notched her first strike in the 21^st minute off a pass from senior Michelle Dolder for a the 1-0 BU advantage.

The Bruins continued to build on their shots advantage headed towards intermission with a 15-10 lead in shots but couldn't get that crucial second goal.

On Bellevue's eighth shot of the second half Fischenich found the back of the net for a second time. Her 64^th minute goal was assisted by junior Jordyn Seidel.

For good measure Fischenich netted an insurance goal, unassisted, in the 70^th minute to secure her hat trick. The Bruins recorded 14 of the 15 shots in the second half as Presentation struggled to mount any kind of attack into the win. Following her three-goal game, Fischenich now has a team and North Star-best 14 goals and 35 points on the season.

The hat trick by Fischenich is the first in the history of the North Star Athletic Association Tournament. She now has five goals in her last two conference tournament matches after a two-goal performance in Bellevue's 4-0 MCAC Championship victory over Oklahoma Wesleyan last season. It's Bellevue's first post-season hat trick since 2013 when Mercy Darkoah scored five goals in a 6-3 win over College of Saint Mary.

Bellevue out-shot the Saints by a 29-11 margin for the match with 18 of their shots on goal compared with six for Presentation.

Sophomore Laurence Rodier made six saves in net for her sixth shutout of the year. Presentation's Allison Johnston did her best to keep the Saints in the match, making 15 stops, including a number of sliding and diving stops on breakaways.

Viterbo defeated Jamestown, 4-0, Friday afternoon to set up a rematch of the only North Star game that Bellevue lost this season. Viterbo topped the Bruins, 3-0, on Oct. 3 at Bellevue Soccer Club.