VERMILLION, SD -- Oakland's Kyla Kellerman delivered her Summit League-leading seventh and eighth goals of the season in a six minute-stretch to lift her team to a 2-0 win at South Dakota.
Kellermann opened the scoring twenty minutes into the match. Nicole DeLuca's shot from the middle of the box was deflected by a Coyote defender and the carom came to Kellermann for a tap-in goal.
A nice combination of passes inside the box by Meghan Reynolds and Abigail Haelewyn set Kellerman up for an insurance goal in the 24th minute. Haelewyn's assist was her ninth of the year, also a league-best.
Colleen Reeves (Rogers, Minn.) was all over the field for the USD defense, making several nice clearances and blocking Oakland attempts at the goal.
"Colleen was solid today, she always is," said head coach Mandy Green. "Alex Pantze (Faribault, Minn.) and Elena Tsakakis (Edina, Minn.) also played well for us today. Those two haven't played as much but they were excellent as defensive center midfielders."
The Coyotes came out with great energy, creating several opportunities to put points on the board early but good defensive play by Oakland kept USD off the scoreboard. Jenny Teslow (Sioux Falls, S.D.) had a breakaway six minutes into the match but she pushed her shot wide right of the goal.
South Dakota's next best look came midway through the second half. A beautiful through ball from Erin Bello (Fort Collins, Colo.) arched over the Golden Grizzlies' defense to Makena Cameron (Cheyenne, Wyo.) but Oakland keeper Payj O'Shea aggressively slid out and knocked the ball from Cameron.
"These girls are improving and growing up," said Green. "Despite the record and our struggles they have shown a lot of heart and they haven't given up.
"They are learning to read the game and play smart. We're doing a lot of good stuff out there. Today we played a good team that went to the NCAA last year and we were competitive. We're still one of the youngest teams in the nation but the improvement is visible."
The Coyotes have road games Friday at North Dakota State (4 p.m.) and Sunday at South Dakota State (1 p.m.).