The University of Minnesota Duluth has already made Bulldog history, advancing to the NCAA II Central Region final for the first time in the program's 20 seasons and will need to defeat another Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foe if the Bulldogs are to rise to new heights.

UMD (16-4-1) will need to deal with "Cinderella" in the regional final on Friday afternoon as they take on NSIC rival Southwest Minnesota State University. The wind whipping through Malosky Stadium did not hinder the Bulldogs' homefield advantage last weekend as they defeated Winona State in the second round  to move to 10-0-0 at home in 2013.

Sophomore Marissa Rosa is one of seven goalkeepers in the nation without a goal allowed in tournament play, and her seven saves against Winona were more than any other 'keeper to pitch a shutout through the first two rounds.

About the Mustangs
Southwest Minnesota (16-3-2) entered NCAA postseason play reeling, without a win its final three regular season matches before falling in the NSIC tournament opening round. Still, the Mustangs made the national tournament field and snapped No. 7 Minnesota State's 36-game home-winning streak with a 2-1 win in Mankato last week and defeated a ranked opponent for the first time in school history, downing No. 14 Central Missouri 3-1 in the opening round. SMSU downed the Bulldogs 3-0 in Marshall earlier this season, marking the first time in 22 matches that the Mustangs defeated UMD. Southwest scored three goals in the second half after the Bulldogs' dominated the first 45 minutes, outshooting the Mustangs 6-0.

UMD is 21-1-0 all-time against Southwest Minnesota and will look for revenge for their match-up earlier this season on Friday afternoon.

In addition to its Central region match-up with Southwest Minnesota, UMD will play host to the Midwest Region final between Grand Valley State (Mich.) University of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Quincy (Ill.) University of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The winners of each regional final will meet in the quarterfinal round at Malosky Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

About the Lakers
No. 1 Grand Valley State (20-0-1) earned a 5-0 win over Rockhurst to remain undefeated in 2013. The Lakers allowed one goal all season in a 2-1 win at Michigan Tech, but later shut out the Huskies 2-0 in the GLIAC postseason championship game. Junior forward Jenny Shaba led GVSU with 14 goals on the year, but also added 11 assists. Her 39 points this season is tied with UMD's Maureen Stormont for the eleventh-most in the nation. Senior goalkeeper Abbey Miller has started every match in-net for the Lakers and leads the nation in goals against average at 0.05 per 90 minutes. GVSU has out-shot opponents 562 to 106 on the year, with just 49 on-target shots allowed all year.

About the Hawks
No. 8 Quincy also enters the weekend undefeated at 18-0-4, including wins over UW-Parkside in both the GLVC championship game and the second round of the NCAA tournament in Quincy, Ill. Unlike their opponents' explosive offense, the Hawks have relied on defense to remain without a loss in 2013, out-scoring opponents 31-7. Senior forward Jaclyn Mastrioanni has ten goals and nine assists in 2013, making good on almost one-third of her shots-on-net (35). Sophomore midfielder Ashley Burton is second on the Hawks with nine goals. Senior goalkeeper Jodi Chapie has a .910 save percentage, stopping 71 of 78 shots on goal for a 0.32 goals against average. Quincy's 16 shutouts tie for the third-most in NCAA II.

UMD is 0-1-0 all-time against Grand Valley State and has never met Quincy.

The action gets underway at Malosky Stadium at noon on Friday with the Midwest region final between Grand Valley State and Quincy, with the Bulldogs and Mustangs hitting the pitch for the Central Region final at 2:30 p.m. The victorious teams advance to the quarterfinal round at UMD on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.