Photo by Sam Thiel SMSU’s Molly Scheid winds up a kick during their game against Minot State University on Friday. SMSU fell to Minot State 2-1.

MARSHALL — So far this season, all of the Southwest Minnesota State University soccer games have been decided by one goal. That pattern continued on Friday afternoon, with SMSU and Minot State University appearing to head to an overtime session, but a late goal by the Beavers in the final minutes lifted Minot to a 2-1 victory at Mattke Field.

SMSU coach Erin Kasmarik-Mallett said despite the tough result, she was pleased with how they executed their gameplan and adjusted to things throughout the afternoon.

“It’s always tough because goals come down to moments and those are what makes the obvious impact, but we competed the whole game and I was really happy with how we executed our gameplan,” Kasmarik-Mallett said. “We asked them to do some things that are very different from what we normally play and they did great, so that’s the really exciting piece for us. We can absorb things really quickly and that’s going to benefit us in the long run. For us, it’s about being on a journey as we grow as a team and being a very young team rather than just being worried about one result all the time.”

The Mustangs were aggressive on offense right away, but weren’t able to capitalize. SMSU kept attacking, though, and were rewarded with 32:33 left in the first half when Abbey Hoisington got one past the goaltender on the assist from Selena Prolic to make it 1-0.

Kasmarik-Mallett said their key offensively has been being prepared and focused right away and they want to improve on capitalizing on their chances when they have a lead.

“Being prepared to start the game is something we can control and we can also control where we are with our focus at the beginning of the game and that’s something the last two games we’ve been really pleased with,” Kasmarik-Mallett said. “We put one on the board first, and the next step will be putting a second one on the board so we can create some breathing space so the game isn’t so close and it comes down to one mistake at the end.”

The two teams traded back and forth play in the opening minutes of the second half, before Minot State tied things up at 1-1 with 32:29 left. The deadlocked score would remain intact for nearly the entirety of the half, with both teams getting some quality scoring chances, but with 1:27 remaining, Minot State was able to get one in the back of the net to take a 2-1 lead and ultimately earn the victory.

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SMSU (1-4 overall, 0-3 NSIC) will continue its homestand on Sunday, facing the University of Mary at 1 p.m. Going into Sunday’s matchup, Kasmarik-Mallett said their biggest takeaway will be being able to recover both physically and mentally.

“I think the big thing is we’ve put in a lot of miles here and we need to make sure we take care of ourselves to recover and then being able to put it in the past,” Kasmarik-Mallett said. “That’s the toughest thing about a loss and the closer it is, the more it tends to sting. We just need to be able to put it in the past and be focused for that next game and start with a clean slate.”