The Golden Bears (7-7, 1-0 NSIC) opened conference play with a 2-0 victory over Bemidji State (7-6, 0-1 NSIC) in a closely contested, physical contest at Concordia Field. Sophomore Rachel Vitense (Cottage Grove, Wis.) continued her solid play, scoring a pair of goals to give her a team-high seven on the season.

In a battle of a pair of shutdown goalkeepers, Kara Gamboni (Mahtomedi, Minn.) prevailed with her seventh shutout of the season. BSU keeper Kari Torgerson was just as good until Vitense finally put the Bears on the board in the 62nd minute of play. The goal came on a free kick by senior Maria Radmacher (Champlin, Minn.), who drilled an entry pass right to sophomore Rachel Flaherty (St. Paul, Minn.), who headed the ball right to Vitense, who drilled the shot past Torgerson.

Vitense scored her second goal in the 77th minute off of a beautiful pass from junior Anne Mueller (Spring, Texas).

The Bears return to action at the same time tomorrow at home against Minnesota Crookston.