The University of Minnesota Duluth will raise the curtain on its 11th season of intercollegiate women's soccer this Sunday (Aug. 29) by taking on Truman State University of Missouri, in Grand Forks, N.D. at 12 p.m. Following that neutral site matchup, the Bulldogs will return to the Twin Ports to take on the College of St. Scholastica on Sept. 1 and Bemidji State University, a one-time Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rival, the next afternoon in the Advantage Cup at the St. Scholastica's on-campus field.

THE RECORDS: UMD concluded the 2003 season with a 14-3-3 overall record and was a perfect 8-0-0 in NSIC play. The Bulldogs followed up their NSIC regular season title conquest by claiming the league tournament championship as well.

THE COACH: The only head coach the Bulldogs have ever employed, Greg Cane (St. Scholastica, 1983) is beginning his 11th year at UMD and has a career record of 122-43-13 to show for it. He has guided UMD to five NSIC titles (1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2003) and one NCAA Division II playoff appearance (2000).



NEW ERA: The 2004 season marks the Bulldogs' first go-around as a member of the North Central Conference. UMD's somewhat dominating 10-year run in the NSIC included amassing a 50-6-2 league record and capturing five of a possible eight conference crowns. The Bulldogs are 12-9-5 lifetime against the six current NCC schools -- Augustana College (0-0-0), Minnesota State University-Mankato (4-4-1), the University of Nebraska-Omaha (1-2-0), the University of North Dakota (1-1-1), St. Cloud State University (6-2-3) and the University of South Dakota (0-0-0).

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS: With the loss of five of their top six scorers and both goaltenders from a year ago, the Bulldogs obviously have some substantial retooling to do in 2004. Junior midfielder Pam Lensing, who finished second to four-time All-NSIC performer Nicole Fietz on the UMD points charts last fall, headlines a list of six starters the Bulldogs welcome back. Lensing, the NSIC's third-leading pointgetter as a sophomore, collected seven goals and 11 assists for 25 points to take team runnerup scoring honors for a second straight year. Senior defenders Patty Kelly and Marie Lerud, senior forward Sara Noonan, who ranked seventh among the 2003 Bulldogs with 14 points on five goals and four assists, and junior defender/midfielder Rachael Farrin, are also back to assume their starting roles from last fall and will be supported by a quintet of battle-tested veterans in senior forward Elisa Cottingham (who missed final third of the 2003 season with a knee injury), senior midfielder Abby Metz, sophomore forwards Jessica Arne and Christiana Fontana, and sophomore defender/midfielder Lisa Lerud.

A LITTLE WET BEHIND THE EARS: New faces will be in plentiful supply for the Bulldogs this season as the 26-member 2004 roster includes 14 newcomers, including the largest freshmen class (13 rookies) in school history.

UMD PICKED BY NCC COACHES TO FINISH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LEAGUE PACK: The North Central Conference head coaches, in their annual preseason poll which was released on August 11, pegged UMD to finish fourth. The following is a complete listing of that poll:

Team (First Place Votes) Pts

Nebraska-Omaha (5) 45

MSU-Mankato (2) 43

North Dakota 29

UMD 27

South Dakota 25

St. Cloud State 16

Augustana College 11

WELCOME BACK: During this past summer, Griggs Field underwent a facelift of sorts as the old artificial surface (which was not approved for NCAA tournament play) was replaced by state-of-the-art A-turf. This means that after playing their home matches at a couple of sites (UMD, Ordean Middle School over the past few years, the Bulldogs will be back on campus for good beginning in 2004.