State Soccer: Bennington Downs Northwest Girls

(Omaha, NE) - On a beautiful night at Creighton University's Morrison Stadium the Bennington Badgers would defeat the Northwest girls by a final score of 2-0 at the state soccer tournament. The two teams would battle in the first half to a scoreless tie going into the break. Northwest controlled the ball early with some centering looks to score but came up empty. Just before 20 minutes remaining in the first half Bennington would start to push the Northwest defense a little more and even would have a look at a corner kick but would come up empty for the Badgers. 

In the second half Bennington would find the back on the net twice in a two-minute span. The first goal for the Badgers would come at the 46-minute mark of the match with a kick on goal that deflected off the hands of Northwest keeper Maddie Kral. Bennington was right there on the opposite post to knock the ball in for the first goal by Harlie Taylor. In the 48th minute, the Badgers would strike again with a near-perfect pass ahead just kicked in goal from the left inside post by Mallory Minturn. For the rest of the second half, the Badgers really applied the pressure on the Northwest defense giving minimal chances for the Vikings on the offensive side of the field for Northwest. 

The Northwest season comes to an end with a record of 14-4 with the second appearance in school history at the state tournament still searching for their first state tournament win. The Vikings will have their starting lineup returning next year. Marcela Rodriguez was the lone senior for the Vikings this season. 

Bennington advances to the state semi-final match with Gretna East on Saturday night.