MINOT STATE, N.D. – After 90 minutes of play and neither team scoring it was essential for the No. 16 Minot State University soccer team to win the coin flip before overtime and stay with the wind. A fist pump from Ryann Rafferty signaled that her team had done just that.
 
"We were already going with the wind and didn't want to have to transition back," said forward Ninfa Ramirez. "We had the momentum going with the wind and wanted to keep that going."
 
Head coach Jason Spain knew it would be tough for the visiting Bemidji State to hold off his team's attack for 55 minutes, but was a little surprised that his team failed to score in the first 45 minutes.
 
"They had a good halftime adjustment," Spain said. "I thought we were going to truck them in the second half with the wind at our backs. Going into overtime it was nice to get a couple of minutes to talk to them about [Bemidji State's] backside wing."
 
"He wanted us to press the ball high," Ramirez said. "He wanted me to stay up higher because they had a defender deep so he wanted me to stay up and press them. Keep running at them and let them make mistakes."
 
With the adjustment it took just six minutes and 31 seconds for Ramirez to score the game-winning goal. Fellow senior Chloe Melton assisted on the goal with a cross into the box.
 
"As soon as it got to her I knew it was going in," Melton said.
 
This marks the sixth time Melton and Ramirez have connected to assist on each other's goals in two years playing together and the fourth time it has been a Melton assist and Ramirez score.
 
The win puts Minot State at the top of the standings in the NSIC with 12 points in the new scoring system. The Beavers also are the only remaining undefeated team in the conference as Bemidji State was the only other team without a loss.
 
"It was huge," Spain said. "This is the first time ever we have been number one in the conference standings all by ourselves. Now we have at least a three-point gap on everybody, but there are still 33 points on the table and I want all of them."
 
Minot State will travel to Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, October 1 before going to Sioux Falls on Sunday, October 2. Both games are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
 
About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.