MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. --  North Dakota State Bison women's soccer opened their 2013 regular season Friday evening, Aug. 23, in the Minnesota Golden Gopher Tournament by taking a 2-0 shutout victory over the Belmont Bruins in Minneapolis. Junior Anisha Kinnarath and senior Katie Tallas provided a pair of early goals and sophomore goalkeeper Sierra Bonham made eight saves to preserve the shutout win.

Kinnarath got the Bison on the board early, way early, finding the back of the net just a minute into the match to make it 1-0 with just under 89 minutes remaining. It marked Kinnarath's opening goal of the 2013 campaign. Tallas put North Dakota State ahead 2-0 just 11 minutes later when she broke down the Bruin defense near midfield and went untouched the rest of the way and slid the ball home for her first goal of the young season. Bonham took over from there, making six of her match-high eight saves in the first half to send the Bison into halftime with the 2-0 cushion.  

The Bison defense was stellar in the second half, holding the Bruins to just two shots, both of which were stopped by Bonham, to seal the shutout and give NDSU a 1-0-0 overall record.

Bonham went the full 90 minutes in-goal to pick up the victory and move her individual goalkeeping record for 2013 to 1-0-0. Belmont's Nicole Bernier took the loss.

NDSU returns to the pitch in Minneapolis Sunday afternoon, Aug. 25, at 1:30 p.m. when they will battle the host Minnesota Golden Gophers in the final match of the Golden Gopher Tournament.