THE OPENING KICK: The University of Minnesota Duluth takes its unblemished 3-0 record to the test once again in a showdown of the dogs as they prepare to do battle with St. Cloud State University. The Bulldogs open Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m. at James S. Malosky Stadium.

SCOUTING REPORT ON ST. CLOUD STATE: The Huskies come to Duluth sporting a 2-1 record, all at home. SCSU defeated Northern Michigan University 3-0 and Michigan Technological University 1-0 before being shutout 2-0 to the fourth-ranked University of Central Missouri. Four different Huskies have scored goals. 

THE SERIES: The matchup between the Bulldogs and the Huskies will be the 30th meeting between the two squads. UMD holds a sizeable 16-7-6 advantage over SCSU. A year ago, each team fought their way to a 0-0 tie. The Bulldogs have had the upper hand as of 2009, going 6-1-2 during that stretch with their only lost happening in 2012. 

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD stacks up against SCSU in the latest United Soccer Coaches Division II poll and how they were matched up in their respected conference preseason poll.

TEAM        United Coaches Poll        NSIC Preseason Poll
UMD           NR                                             6th
SCSU         NR                                             5th

THE BROADCAST: The match on Tuesday evening will be carried live through a video stream, in addition to live stats, with the play-by-play call provided by the iFan Sports Network and are available for free at:
portal.stretchinternet.com/umd

LAST TIME OUT: UMD blasted Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech last weekend to cap off a perfect non conference schedule. 

The Bulldogs defeated the Wildcats on a pair of goals off corner kicks by junior defender Laura Edgren. Edgren's first boot found senior forward Skye Finley and the back of the net in  the 71st minute. Seventy-four seconds later Edgren drilled her corner off a defender back into the net for a own goal.

Junior goalkeeper Carlye Wright made her first start of the 2017 season and made the only save she needed to as the Bulldog backline allowed only one shot on goal. NMU didn't attempt a single shot on net in the entire fist half.

Two days later, the Bulldogs thrashed the Huskies 3-1. Sophomore forward Logan Nash tallied her first goal of the season on a rebound header. UMD stretched the lead to two, when once again, Finley bumped the ball in on a corner kick, this time from Nash.

UMD gave up its first goal of the season on a nonchalant floater but St. Martin outsmarted the Michigan Tech goalie, intercepting a clear ball and beating the goalie to the net. 

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. Before St. Martin claimed the weekly conference award, defender Megan Helberg ('14) was the last Bulldog member to be selected player of the week honors on Nov. 3, 2014.

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.

YOU'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR FIRST: Junior midfielder Madison Carey and sophomore Mikayla Iaquinto each registered their first points of their careers. Carey assisted on UMD's third goal against the Rangers on Aug. 31. Iaquinto posted her assist on Nash's tally off the crossbar versus the Huskies on Sept. 10.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS: The Bulldog defense has been ruthless to opposing offenses to start the season. UMD allowed its first goal of the season against Michigan Tech in the 63rd minute. That ended the Bulldogs' 242:25 minute streak without allowing a goal. During that stretch, the backline has allowed 17 shots (5.3 shots/game) total and a mere seven shots on goal (2.3 SOG/game).

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. 

BEHIND THE CRYSTAL BALL: In the annual NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll, the Bulldogs were tabbed with a sixth place finish. The top distinction went to Minnesota State University-Mankato, which garnered 11 first-place votes and 217 points overall. Augustana University was second with 210 points (five first-place votes) followed by Bemidji State University (188), Minot State University (187), St. Cloud State University (165) then UMD.

ON THE PROWL: Finley and junior defender Erika Hjort were named a few members of the Bulldog club to look out for during the 2017 campaign.

Finley returns as the team's leading scorer from a season ago after spending the early part of her collegiate career defending the backline. The Forest Lake , Minn. native posted career-highs in goals (5), assists (4) and points (14) en route to being named third team All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference selection. Finley, who transferred from St. Cloud State, accounted for 24 percent of the team's offense.

Hjort will continue to anchor the defense that pitched seven shutouts last season. The Bulldogs defense allowed a mere 10.2 shots per game, a club best since the 2010 when they allowed 9.4 per match. The product of Mahtomedi H.S., appeared and started in 17 games logging a team-high 87.8 minutes per match. A two-year starter, Hjort notched her first assist and point against Northern Michigan (Sept. 11) and later her first career goal against Bemidji State (Oct. 30).

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, and has paced the sideline for each of the team's 427 matches during the program's 23-year existence. During that time, the Duluth native has won at a .612 clip, piling up an overall record of 241-145-41.

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 claimed its first-ever national ranking in 1999. One year later, UMD set a team record with 17 wins 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. UMD would finish seventh in the final National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll.

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. Additionally, Cane has manufactured a trio of NSIC Offensive Players of the Year, a pair of NSIC Defensive Players of the Year and a NSIC Newcomer of the Year (Sheridan Reiners) in 2014.

In his nine years with the Saints, Cane rolled up a 106-53-12 mark while winning two National Small Colleges Athletic Association National Championships and five NAIA District 12 titles. Cane later played an integral role in establishing the St. Scholastica women's soccer program in 1990 and posted an overall mark of 15-35-2 as the team's head coach from 1990-93. In September 2013, Cane was inducted into the St. Scholastica Athletic Hall of Fame.

2016 ACCOLADES: Three returning Bulldogs earned All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference citations for their contributions a season ago. Finley was the only third-team choice. Junior defenders Lizzy Fontes and Hjort were pegged honorable mention selections. Each backliner netted their first career goals. 

THE 250 WATCH: Cane needs seven more victories to become a member of the 250-win club at UMD. Cane will be on pace to become the 13th coach in any sport to accumulate at least 250 wins at the university. Cane clinched milestone win number 200 on Oct. 20, 2012 versus Northern State. Starting the 2017 campaign, his 256 victories in 27 years ranks him 13th all-time among NCAA II coaches and his .579 career winning percentage ranks him 11th among coaches with 20-plus years of experience.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: UMD has an impeccable 126-50-11 record playing inside the confines of Malosky Stadium (good for a .702 winning percentage). Having played all 23 seasons inside the 4,500-seat venue, the Bulldogs have had only two losing seasons and have capped off three perfect home records, the latest coming in 2009.

"KICKS FOR CAUSES"- RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS EDITION: The UMD soccer team has used their home matchups since its initiation in 2014 as a way to give back to the community by highlighting organizations and charities that student-athletes have chosen to represent.

Junior forward Destiny Schmitz selected Arthritis National Research Foundation to be promoted for Tuesday's game. Their goal is to help provide initial research funding to brilliant, investigative scientists with new ideas to cure arthritis and related autoimmune diseases. There are over 100 different types of arthritis. The severity of symptoms depends on the specific form of the disease. In Rheumatoid Arthritis, the joints and other organs are attacked by the body's own immune system. 

Schmitz has battled the disease since she was 17 after a lengthy six-month diagnoses pinpointed her symptoms.

For more information about the Arthritis National Research Foundation, please visit: https://www.curearthritis.org/funding-arthritis-research/

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs stay put in Duluth for the weekend as they square of against a pair of NSIC rivals in Minnesota State University, Mankato and Concordia University, St. Paul.

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