The University of Minnesota Duluth soccer team hits the road for a pair of road conference match-ups, facing the University of Sioux Falls and the 18th ranked team in NCAA II, Southwest Minnesota State University, this weekend.
Head coach
Greg Cane will join the Athletic Hall of Fame of his alma mater, the College of St. Scholastica,
in a ceremony tonight before heading out to meet his team on one of the longer road trips the Bulldogs will take this season.
UMD (4-1-0, 3-0-0 NSIC) enters the weekend riding the wave of a three-match winning streak which included a defeat over perennial conference rival Winona State University. It was the first time the Bulldogs bested the Warriors since 2009 as UMD proved itself one of the toughest teams in the conference. They will hope to ride that wave of momentum into Sioux Falls, S.D. on Saturday morning.
The Opponents
The University of Sioux Falls joined NCAA II in 2012, and head coach Mekonnen Afa's Cougars went 0-17-1. Afa is in his tenth season at USF with a 100-110-20 combined record of men's and women's teams. The Cougars graduated their lone All-NSIC selection from 2012 but return a five-member senior class to lead them in their second season of NSIC action. Opponents have out-scored Sioux Falls 15-2 this season as the team remains winless on the season (0-6-0, 0-4-0 NSIC). Senior goalkeeper Corrin Cook leads the team's defense while posting a 2.47 GAA and .674 save percentage. The Cougars have been out-shot 40-81 in 2013.
UMD defeated Sioux Falls by a 6-0 score in their inaugural meeting in 2012. Sophomore goalkeeper
Marissa Rosa had five saves in preserving her second career shutout while six different Bulldogs scored a goal each. Live video is available of the match by clicking
here.
No. 18 Southwest Minnesota State University posted a pair of shutouts last weekend, earning NSIC player of the week honors for sophomore midfielder Megan Kilroy and goalkeeper Brienna Dehkes. Head coach T.J. Buchholz and the Mustangs enter the season an undefeated 6-0-0 on the season, including three wins in the NSIC. SMSU has just three seniors and 16 underclassmen on their roster this season. Sophomore Miranda Cadena leads Southwest's offense for the second straight season with four goals and two assists already in 2013. Juniors Autumn Hayes and Justin Hauck have also proven to be scoring threats with three goals each this season. Dehkes has three shutouts and 29 saves on 32 chances and the Mustangs have not allowed more than one goal in any game this year, while outshooting opponents 91-53.
The Bulldogs are 21-0-0 all-time against the Mustangs but will likely face their stiffest challenge yet in this year's defensive-minded squad. UMD earned a 1-0 shutout victory over SMSU on Sept. 22 last season. Live stats of the match will be available by clicking
here, and live video by clicking
here.
The Line-Up
While its upcoming opponents laid claims to the defensive and goalkeeping weekly honors in the NSIC, UMD boasts this week's Offensive Player of the Week in junior forward
Maureen Stormont. Stormont scored each of the Bulldogs' game-winners last weekend and now has three on the young season. She has five goals and two assists as she nears the top in scoring all-time at UMD. Also climbing the career rankings is senior forward
Dani Potter. She netted her fourth goal of 2013 in UMD's 2-0 victory over Upper Iowa last Saturday. Junior
Riley Allen continues to lead the Bulldogs' defensive corps in front of Rosa, helping her to the team's first shutout of 2013.
While it won't be the longest road trip of 2013, UMD will play its earliest game of the season on Saturday, taking the pitch against Sioux Falls at 11:00 a.m. Sunday's match against Southwest Minnesota State is set for 1:00 p.m. The Bulldogs will hope to control their positive momentum as they delve further into the grind of the NSIC schedule.
