The University of Minnesota Duluth will kick off its 2015 campaign with 14 fresh faces on the pitch, turning over much of its starting line-up, as the Bulldogs take on the No. 7-ranked team in the nation in the form of the University of Central Missouri on a neutral field in Sioux Falls, S.D.

UMD, posting a record of 9-10-1 a season ago (8-6-1 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference), returns just three players from its starting line-up a season ago: junior midfielder Marissa Ganske, sophomore defender Emily Fleissner, and redshirt sophomore Taylor Johnson. The team will rely on a new group of leaders in four fourth-year athletes to take the reins of the squad: seniors Kate McMahon and Leah Nesheim and redshirt juniors Katie Peterson and Jackie Sorenson.

SCOUTING THE JENNIES | 21-1-2, 14-0-0 MIAA (2014)
No. 7 Central Missouri received a unanimous selection to finish first in the Midwest Intercollegiate Athletic Association ... the Bulldogs are 0-1-0 all-time against the Jennies, taking an 0-2 defeat last season on the road on Sept. 7, 2014 ... Central Missouri returns MIAA Defender of the Year Emily Elridge, a junior, and goalkeeper of the year Ana Dilkes, a sophomore, from its 2014 campaign ... head coach Lewis Theobald has earned the MIAA Coach of the Year crown in seven of his eight seasons with the Jennies, posting a 130-23-17 overall record ... the Jennies were 2-1-1 on a neutral field last year ... this match-up will mark the season opener for both teams.

QUICK KICKS
UMD will look to outperform expectations as the team was selected to finish seventh in the NSIC Preseason Poll earlier this month ... Ganske was selected a player to watch in the NSIC this season as the team's top returning points scorer with 15 (four goals, seven assists) as was Fleissner, who made eight starts and appeared in 17 games for the Bulldogs during her freshman go-around ... though technical difficulties marred the image quality, head coach Greg Cane gave us A Few Minutes of great insight last month ... a full preview of the team's 2015 season is available here.

LINKS TO WATCH
Live Video (Unavailable) | Live Stats

Though the teams will be on a neutral site when they take the field on Friday afternoon, UMD will have a bit more experience on this particular pitch as the match will be hosted by Augustana (S.D.) University, the Bulldogs' recently-rechristened NSIC rival. Opening kick for this NCAA II Central Region showdown is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Morstad Field.