St. Cloud, Minn.- The University of Minnesota Crookston soccer team braved sub-freezing temperatures in their final road game of the 2017 season where they tied St. Cloud State University, 0-0, Friday night.
 
Team defense was the key to the Golden Eagles earning a point in the NSIC match as the bulk of the play through the 110 minute game was played on the Crookston side of midfield. Crookston goalkeeper Olivia Puttin (So., Rogers, Minn.) made 13 total saves, four of which came in the two overtime periods. The Huskies tried to go high on Puttin, throughout the contest, but she did a great job of getting a hand on the shots; especially on a pair of shots early in the second half that were from about 20 yards out. The biggest pair of saves came two minutes into the second overtime period as Puttin again knocked a high shot over the crossbar, then made another save off the ensuing corner kick.
 
The defensive help in front of Puttin was another highlight for the Golden Eagles as they stopped the Huskies on what could have been numerous good scoring opportunities. Many of those SCSU chances came off corner kicks as St. Cloud had 14 total corners in the game.
 
Crookston's first shot of the match came off of the foot of Nicole Corbin (Sr., Ramsey, Minn.) in the game's 51^st minute, but their best chance came with just over three minutes in regulation as Kayla Stangeland (Mitchell, S.D.) headed a ball wide of the Husky goal. The sophomore midfielder had room but the header just went wide of the left post.
 
The Golden Eagles will return home for their final game of the 2017 season when they host UM Duluth on Sunday. The Bulldogs will host Bemidji State tomorrow at 11:00 am before making the trek to Crookston for Sunday's 1:00 pm start.