CEDAR CITY, Utah  - Sophomore forward Shelby Ostler scored two goals for Southern Utah University who suffered a 4-3 defeat to South Dakota State University at Thunderbird Soccer Field Thursday afternoon.

"I was very pleased with how be fought back today and put together a number of offensive attacks against a good team," commented head coach Brian Stock. "We showed we are capable of scoring against a very good team but just couldn't overcome a couple simple mistakes that put us in an early hole."

SUU (4-7-1, 1-3 Summit League) erased a 2-0 deficit with a goal by leading scorer junior forward Riley Bassett who kicked in the Thunderbirds first goal of the match on a penalty kick. Sophomore midfielder Katie Saxton had gained possession inside the SDSU (8-4-2, 3-1-1 Summit League) 18-yard box but was taken down, awarding SUU a penalty kick that Bassett kicked into the lower right of the goal for her seventh score of the season.

Southern trailed 2-1 at the break but had gained momentum with the goal late in the half and owning a 8-7 shot advantage. SUU was on the attack in the early minutes of the second half, eventually breaking through as junior forward McKenzie Hadley delivered a beautiful thru-ball that Ostler received as she streaked past the SDSU defense. Ostler was met by a charging keeper and was able get a shot off just wide of the keeper and into the empty net to knot the match at 2-2 in the 66^th minute.

A number of Thunderbird attacks would get turned away in the following minutes before the Jackrabbits used a set play to go ahead in the 76^th minute. SDSU had a corner kick land inside the SUU box and was able to kick in a loose ball for the score. Minutes later South Dakota State notched the eventual match-winner as a turnover by SUU deep in their own territory saw a left cross by the Jackrabbits, land inside the keeper box and headed in to take a 4-2 lead with just eight minutes remaining.

Ostler's second goal came in the final minute as she fired a left-footed shot from outside the right 18-yard mark into the far left corner of the net, cutting the SDSU lead to 4-3 with just 46 seconds left on the clock. The Jackrabbits went on to hold possession and prevent any last second attack by the Thunderbirds.

SDSU finished with advantages in shots at 16-13 and in corner kicks with 8-3. SUU redshirt-sophomore keeper Charly Booth finished eight saves while SDSU's keeper Elisa Stamatakis made five saves.

"Our offense has been playing very well as of late and we will look to continue to attack on Saturday against North Dakota State," added Stock.

Southern Utah closes out its three-match homestand against NDSU at 1 p.m. on Saturday. All SUU soccer alumni in attendance for Saturday's match will be recognized at half time as part of SUU's 10-Year Anniversary Celebration.