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THE OPENING KICK: Its a rematch of the 2013 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament championship for the University of Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State University, Mankato this Wednesday at The Pitch in Mankato, Minn. The eighth seeded Bulldogs meet with the top-seeded Mavericks at 1:00 p.m. in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament.
SCOUTING REPORT ON MINNESOTA STATE: The Mavericks clinched the NSIC regular season title thanks to some help from the Bulldogs. UMD's tie to Bemidji State opened the door for Minnesota State Mankato to capture the title for the fifth time and for the first time since 2015.
The Mavericks finished the regular season 15-2-1 and 13-1-1 in the NSIC. Grand Valley State and Minot State were the only two team to topple Minnesota State Mankato. They sport the nation's 28th best offense (2.44 per game) and the fourth best goals against average (0.39).
Fourteen (14) different Mavericks have scored a goal with Jenny Hoerter pacing the club with seven tallies. Lauren Kizlik is second with six. Taylor Livermore and Ryann Rydeen have split goalie responsibilities posting a combined 14 shutouts. Maddy Burandt was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for her contribution on the backline and scoring the game-winning goal against Upper Iowa. Morgan Seemuth is also a two-time defensive player of the week honoree.
THE SERIES: The Bulldogs lost the regular season matchup in September in overtime 1-0. Minnesota State Mankato leads the series 19-8-4 in its 31 matches. UMD last defeated the Mavericks in 2012 when it shut them out 5-0. The Bulldogs haven't scored in the last four games, being outscored 9-0.
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD stacks up against Minnesota State Mankato in the NSIC standings, the latest United Soccer Coaches Division II poll and where they stack up in the NCAA Central Region rankings.
TEAM NSIC COACHES REGION
UMD 8th NR NR
MSU-Mankato 1st 20th 3rd
THE BROADCAST: The matches this weekend will be carried live through a video stream, in addition to live stats, and is available for free at:
portal.stretchinternet.com/umd
LAST TIME OUT: UMD needed a win this weekend to clinch a berth into the postseason and it got it on the regular season finale on Sunday versus Minnesota Crookston. After a 2-2 tie with Bemidji State in the home finale, sophomore midfielder Nan Glinsek sliced through the Golden Eagle defense, driving past three defenders, and hitting the top shelf. That marker would stand as UMD clamped down and continued to pepper UMC with 13 second-half shots. Sisley Ng made two saves and only saw one shot in the second for her fourth shutout of the year. Senior forward Skye Finley bolted two shots past the Beavers' Catherine Arneson. BSU allowed only four goals coming into the contest. Finley posted goal No. 6 and the team-leading seventh in Saturday's tie.
WEATHER PROOF: The Bulldogs have battled more than its opponents over the past week. UMD had its contest versus Bemidji State pushed back a day and dealt with patches of flurries and chilly conditions. Sunday, it faced cold temperatures and gail force winds. On Wednesday, the forecast at game time calls for a windy 39 degrees with a light rain/snow mix.
BULLDOGS-MAVERICKS PART I: The Mavericks vanished with a 1-0 overtime victory on Sept. 16 to the Bulldogs for their first loss of the season. Morgen Cottew scored the winner at the 4:06 mark of the first overtime on a free kick ball sent into the box. UMD was heavily pressured through most the match but withstood all 30 regulation shots it faced. Minnesota State Mankato dominated the second half with 18 shots and six corner kicks compared to the Bulldogs' four and zero. Mavericks' keeper Ryann Rydeen made four saves for the shutout. Sophomore forward Logan Nash attempted a team-high three shots in the match. Junior forward Natalie St. Martin had the best chance for UMD. She darted past three Mavericks and pushed her shot above the crossbar in the 13th minute.
BULLDOGS-MAVERICKS PART II: These two teams are all to familiar with one another. UMD and Minnesota State Mankato have meet twice or more in the same season eight times. The last time it occurred was in 2013. The only time the Bulldogs took both matches against the Mavericks was in its inaugural season. Minnesota State Mankato has swept UMD twice while both teams have split three other times.
EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: UMD has been known to crash the party and upset a few teams in the postseason. In 2014, the Bulldogs upended No. 24 Augustana 1-0 in the first round of the NSIC Tournament. One year earlier, UMD sent No. 19 Winona State home in the NSIC semifinals. In 1998 and 2001, they stunned the same Warriors twice in both NSIC Championship games to take the crown.
THE ROAD DOGG: UMD finished up its 2017 campaign at Malosky Stadium going 4-2-3. From here on out the Bulldogs will be the road warriors. This year, they have gone 6-3 away from home.
QUICK START: The Bulldogs are 9-0-2 when they score first oppose to 1-5-1 when they allow the first goal.
THESE DOGS HAVE NO QUIT: The Bulldogs have knocked in 21 of their 30 goals in the second half or later. They have out shot teams 159-105 and have produced more corner kicks (51-31) during that stretch.
UMD has been able to deliver the knockout punch in the second half. It is 7-2-1 (.750) when it tied at the half and 2-0-1 (.833) when leading after 45 minutes. The Bulldogs have comeback to win a game (Wayne State, 5-4) after falling behind and also have tied (Sioux Falls, 1-1) another.
TIGHTLY CONTESTED: In its five losses this season, the Bulldogs has not lost a game by more than a goal. In three of those games, they have outshot the opposition.
BALANCED ATTACK: Seventeen (17) different Bulldogs have garnered at least a point, matching the 2003 team. UMD is second in the NSIC in that stat with only Minnesota State besting that number at 20. The Bulldogs, however, have the highest percentage (.850) of players to record a point with 17 out of 20. The 1997 team gathered 20 players with one point.
YOU'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR FIRST: Seven Bulldogs (junior Madison Carey, sophomores Mikayla Iaquinto, Emily Hinz, Nan Glinsek, and Maddie Milbrath and freshmen Gabby Bland and Jenna Eichten) have registered their first collegiate points.
Carey assisted on UMD's third goal against the Rangers on Aug. 31. Iaquinto posted her assist on Nash's tally when her shot banged off the crossbar at Michigan Tech on Sept. 10. Hinz had a goal and an assist against Concordia-St. Paul on Sept. 17. Glinsek received her first point on an assist at Winona State on Sept. 29. Milbrath assisted on the game-winner vs. Wayne State on Oct. 22. Bland knocked in the game-winner marker on her first collegiate shot versus Northern State on Sept. 24. Eichten, in her first collegiate start, grabbed her first assist on Nash's goal against Sioux Falls on Oct. 15.
TOP DOGS: Forwards Skye Finley and Destiny Schmitz are near the top of the NSIC scoring charts in goals. Finley (seven) ranks tied for fifth while Schmitz (six) is tied for 11th. Finley improved on her breakout junior season notching career bests in goals and points. Schmitz has tripled her goal scoring and one point shy of doubling her sophomore campaign.
THE TREMENDOUS TRIO: Skye Finley (15), Natalie St. Martin (15) and Destiny Schmitz (13) rank in the top 16 in points in the conference. Together, the three combine to out produce four teams in the NSIC. They have amounted for 16 goals and 11 assists to establish themselves as the third best scoring trio in the conference.
WHAT A FEED: Natalie St. Martin has a team-leading nine assists to occupy the second slot behind Bemidji State's Rachael Norton in the conference and 11th in all of Division II. St. Martin is the latest to have nine assists since Becky Anderson and Alex Paffrath each totalled that number in 2009. The record for most assists in a single season is 11 held by Pam Lensing who accomplished that feat in 2003.
GETTING OFFENSIVE: The backrow has done its share of contributing on the offensive side of the field. UMD defenders have compiled 17 points (five goals and seven assists) this season.
GOLDEN GIRLS: Senior forward Skye Finley and junior forward Natalie St. Martin each received NSIC honors for offensive player of the week accolades for the first two weeks of the season. That broke a drought of more than two years as defender Megan Helberg was the last Bulldog member to be selected with player of the week honors on Nov. 3, 2014.
Player of the Week Honors
Sept. 5- Natalie St. Martin Offense PoW
Sept. 11- Skye Finley Offense PoW
Finley snagged the honor for leading UMD to a pair of victories over Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech. She chipped in both game-winners off beautifully placed corner kicks.
St. Martin, the product of Mahtomedi H.S., slammed home the game winner then proceeded to tally assists on the other two markers of a 3-0 victory of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. That four-point performance already matched her entire output of 2016.
NIFTY 250: Cane gathered historic UMD win number 250 at Wayne State. Cane is the 18th coach to hit the milestone at the Division II level. His 266 collegiate wins with the St. Scholastica and UMD clubs ranks him 14th among head coaches with 10-plus years of DII coaching experience. He became the 13th coach in any sport to accumulate at least 250 wins at UMD.
OH CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS: A pair of forward seniors, Hailey Hoff and Skye Finley, have been entrenched with the 'C' responsibilities for this fall. Finley served that responsibility last season. The last time UMD had at least two captains was in 2014 when Hannah Keil and Jennifer Smith led the helm.
THE CANE FILES: Greg Cane is one of the few coaches who can claim to have literally build his or her squad from the ground up. Cane officially became the first head soccer coach in Bulldog history in 1994.
The Bulldogs joined the upstart NSIC in 1996 and have claimed the league crown five times (1997, 1998, 2001-03) as well as five conference tournament titles (1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, and 2009) in 17 seasons of NSIC competition Cane has twice led UMD to unblemished conference marks (1997 and 2003) and both times been named the NSIC Coach of the Year in those seasons.
Cane and the Bulldogs set a team record 17 wins in 2000 and would be ranked as high as eighth nationally en route to capturing the program's first NCAA Tournament berth. The team matched that win total in 2013 and made its biggest splash in the postseason, hosting the NCAA II Central Region Tournament where they reached the NCAA II Quarterfinals before succumbing to eventual champion Grand Valley State University.
The Bulldogs have been a model of consistency under the guidance of Cane in the upper Midwest. His keen eye for talent and development has harvested 27 different NSCAA/Daktronics All-Central Region players including three All-Americans in Clare Dahmen and Hannah Bengston in 2009 and Maria Leider the following season.
In September 2013, Cane was inducted into the St. Scholastica Athletic Hall of Fame for leading the Saints to two National Small Colleges Athletic Association National Championships. Cane later played an integral role in establishing the St. Scholastica women's soccer program in 1990.
UP NEXT: With a victory on Wednesday, the Bulldogs would head to the NSIC semifinals hosted by the top remaining team on Friday to face the winner of U-Mary/Minot State. The NSIC championship is Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
