Jamestown girls soccer edges No. 2 Minot North, secures state path

Jamestown girls soccer turned Rotary Field into a pressure point for one of the state’s top teams Friday, scoring twice in the first nine minutes and holding off No. 2 Minot North 3-2 in a win that carried real postseason weight for the Blue Jays and the people following them in Stutsman County.

The fast start mattered as much as the final score. Instead of spending the evening chasing a favored opponent, Jamestown seized control immediately and forced Minot North to play from behind on the road, a shift that changed the tone of the match before the first half settled in. Senior Maggie Godboldt added another layer to the upset by scoring her first goal of the season, a timely breakthrough in a game that already had state tournament implications.

The result gave Jamestown a clearer route toward Bismarck. The 2026 NDHSAA Girls Soccer State Tournament is scheduled for May 28-30 at the Sanford Sports Complex and will be played as an eight-team single-elimination bracket with a consolation round for fifth place. With the top four finishers in league standings earning berths, every conference result has carried extra meaning this spring, and this one was especially valuable because it came against a heavily favored Minot North side.

WDA Sports listed Jamestown at 5-4-1 in conference and 5-5-1 overall around this point in the season, while Minot North stood at 8-2-1 in conference and 8-3-1 overall. That gap in records only sharpened the value of the upset for coach Colton Altringer’s Blue Jays, who have now shown they can beat a stronger opponent when the margin for error is thin. Jamestown’s program has one WDA championship, won in 2017, and Friday’s result gave that history fresh relevance.

The victory also stood out in a busy day for local girls soccer. WDA Sports listed Jamestown’s 3-2 win and St. Mary’s 2-0 victory over Williston as the two girls soccer results from Friday, May 8. For Jamestown, though, the headline was the same one that echoed through Rotary Field: the Blue Jays did not just protect home turf, they took a meaningful step toward making the state bracket a realistic next stop.