Former Ankeny Centennial star Courtney Kovacs and the Minnesota State women’s soccer team are headed back to the NCAA Division II tournament.
Kovacs, a senior defender and midfielder, contributed an early assist as the Mavericks posted a 2-1 victory over St. Cloud State in overtime in the championship of the NSIC Tournament on Sunday at The Pitch in Mankato. She was later named to the all-tournament team.
It’s the 11th tournament title in program history for Minnesota State, which has qualified for each of the past 16 Division II tournaments. The third-ranked Mavericks (17-1-3) earned the No. 1 seed in the Central Region and will host No. 8 seed Harding (12-6-2) in the first round on Friday at 1 p.m.
After Kovacs assisted on a goal by Reese Hilsenbeck in the 2nd minute of play, St. Cloud State got an equalizer from Grace Olson at the 18-minute mark. The two teams then battled on even terms into overtime before Avery Korsching, a former Dallas Center-Grimes standout, scored the game-winner in the 105th minute.
Korsching was named MVP of the game for the Mavericks, who advanced all the way to the national championship match a year ago before falling to Cal Poly Pomona. Kovacs started and played 95 minutes in the win.
Sunday’s game featured several former standouts from the CIML, including St. Cloud State’s Cady Compton and Emma Gott.
Compton, a junior midfielder, started and played 82 minutes for the Huskies. The former Centennial player took one of her team’s 17 shots.
Gott, a redshirt freshman forward, briefly saw some action off the bench. She is an Ankeny graduate.
St. Cloud State (14-2-5) landed a berth to the Division II tournament for the third consecutive season. The Huskies are the No. 3 seed in the Central Region and will face No. 6 seed Pittsburg State (14-3-2) on Friday at Bemidji, Minn.