Kearney, Neb. – The Northwest Missouri State Bearcats used a second half own goal to get past Nebraska Kearney, 2-1, Sunday afternoon at Cope Stadium.
The 'Cats move to 2-7-3 (2-3-2; eight league points) while the Lopers fall to 3-7-4 (1-5-2; five points).
"Hate the outcome; found a lot to learn and to grow off of, plenty of good points to take away such as going up for the first time in a long while," said Loper head coach Rob Breton.
Both teams were coming off ties against nationally ranked squads; Northwest 1-1 Oct. 4 vs. Central Missouri and UNK 1-1 Oct. 9 vs. Pittsburg State. With nine corners and nine shots, Northwest had the upper hand in the first half, but the Lopers were the team to take the lead. After a free kick, junior Billie Forrest (Taylorsville, Utah) used a touch pass to find freshman Vanna Reitsma (Papillion) near the box, and she promptly recorded her team-leading fourth goal of the season in the 42nd minute.
However, the 'Cats responded two minutes later. Freshman Lyndia McVey received a throw-in, dribbled to the middle of the field and fired an upper rocket to score from about 25 yards out at the 52-second mark.
UNK outshot Northwest, 3-1, after the break and had two fewer corners, 4-2. The game seemed to be headed for a draw, but Lincoln sophomore Mallory Arehart got loose on the left wing in the 78th minute and sent a cross toward teammate Rachel Davis. Instead of finding Davis for a shot, the ball hit a streaking Loper defender and went into the back of the net.
"We allowed our emotions to dictate the decisions. Emotions are meant to fuel us, not to guide how we make choices," said Breton. "If we make decisions based on emotions, you're going to have a roller coaster of a game. We shouldn't have put ourselves in that situation because there were three things before that moment (second goal)."
Senior keeper Susie Bovaird (Lincoln) had four saves with junior Ka'iulani Nishigaya (Waipahu, Hawai'i) taking two shots. Finally, Forrest logged 45 minutes off the bench and recorded a shot.
"So, we learned two things from this weekend; we came come back from being down and we can also go up. The other part is that we need to learn how to hold out when we are up," said Breton.
UNK has just one game next weekend, a Friday afternoon tilt with Missouri Western (6-2-5, 3-2-2; 11 points).
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Nebraska Kearney men’s basketball was selected 11th in both the coaches and media 2026-27 MIAA preseason polls, with the season opener set for Nov. 9.
