Bears Strike Early, Hold Off Air Force for 2-1 Victory

Thursday, September 10

Greeley, Colo.

7 p.m. MT

University of Northern Colorado

2-3-2, 0-0-0

Air Force

4-2-0, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Air Force	0	1	1
Northern Colo.	2	0	2

9/10/2026 9:39:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Donate To Soccer Box Score (PDF)

By: Andres Torres, Student Assistant

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado women's soccer used a pair of first-half goals and a strong defensive effort down the stretch to earn a 2-1 victory over Air Force Thursday night at Jackson Stadium.

The Bears wasted little time getting on the board, opening the scoring in the 12th minute. Ava Marshall found the back of the net at the 11:25 mark for her first goal of the season, finishing a chance set up by Maddie Mori to give UNC an early 1-0 advantage.

" I think that's an unselfish group," head coach Tim Barrera said. "We ask players to go out there and give it their best, even if some of them it was five, ten minutes. But they gave us good minutes. I think that's a real strength for us as we get ready for some tough matches coming up and into the conference season."

Northern Colorado doubled its lead just over 30 minutes later. Francesca Jordan scored her first goal of her career in the 42nd minute off an assist from Alex Michael, sending the Bears into halftime with a 2-0 lead.

Air Force increased the pressure in the second half and finished the match with a 15-9 advantage in total shots. The Falcons broke through in the 80th minute when Maddy Walsh scored off an assist from Kendall Ripple, cutting UNC's lead to 2-1.

The Bears held firm over the final 11 minutes to secure the victory.

As the Bears head into conference play Abby Bush emphasized continuing to build on performances like Thursday stating, " I definitely think today was a good start for us." Bush continued to say, "We want to keep building upwards and staying together doing that."

UNC placed seven of its nine shots on goal, while Air Force finished with four shots on target. Marshall led the Bears with three shots, including two on goal, while Esja Moore added two shots on goal. Thordis Melsted played all 90 minutes in net and recorded three saves.

With the win, Northern Colorado improves to 2-3-2 on the season and closes its home non-conference slate with a victory.

UP NEXT
Northern Colorado hits the road for three straight matches to close non-conference play. The Bears begin the trip at UC Riverside on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 5:30 p.m. MT in Riverside, Calif., before traveling to San Diego State on Sept. 20 and Boise State on Sept. 25.