Alex Eisen/MDN Minot State defender Morgan Myers (23) gets taken down by Bemidji State midfielder Melanie Peltier (16) in an NSIC women's soccer match played Friday evening at Herb Parker Stadium.

The Minot State Beavers held the dam shut for 45 minutes before the Bemidji State Beavers finally broke through.

The MSU women’s soccer team (5-4-2, 3-4-1 NSIC) suffered its second straight shutout defeat, losing, 3-0, Friday evening to undefeated No. 6-ranked Bemidji State (11-0, 8-0 NSIC) at Herb Parker Stadium.

Bemidji State has posted a shutout win in its last four games.

“They were good, better than us tonight,” MSU head coach Jason Spain said. “I think we could clip them, but we got to fix some things. We just haven’t played our best, but we are going to get there.”

Keeping possession for long spurts was a challenge in a scoreless first half.

MSU goalkeeper Erin Rafferty turned away the first of seven shots she faced and got some help later in the half with MSU defender Audrey Wilson making a goal line clearance.

Senior forward Haley Berryman had Minot’s only shot of the first half on a left-footed strike from distance, but that didn’t challenge Bemidji State goalkeeper Anna Fobbe.

“It’s crazy, we just lost confidence,” Spain said. “It’s weird. We played Mary (at the start of the season) and grind it out, an awesome game. A battle and we had no legs left after that game against Moorhead and we have been shook ever since.”

Bemidji State’s senior star striker Rachael Norton, who had four shots in the first half, took over the match in the second half.

Pressing the MSU backline right off the opening kickoff to start the second half, Norton forced a turnover and slipped through teammate Alanna Mattson for the first goal of the game.

The letdown 19 seconds into the half was compounded when Norton scored her 12th goal of the season off a corner kick six minutes later.

Norton, in her final act, crossed the ball into Erin Becker for Bemidji’s third goal in the 67th minute. The ball deflected off a Minot State defender and went in.

The three-goal deficit was insurmountable for a team that has only scored one goal in the last 488 minutes of game time.

“I love my girls and I believe in them,” Spain said. “I still think we have a roster that can beat all these teams.”

With the match firmly out of reach, Spain emptied out his bench with eight minutes remaining.

“This was the middle game of the season,” Spain said. “I still think we can go 7-0 the rest of the way, but we got to get better in the last 30 yards because we have just been bad. We will work on it tomorrow morning and then we will play Crookston.”

MSU hosts Minnesota Crookston next at 1 p.m. Sunday at Herb Parker Stadium.

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.