THE OPENING KICK: The University of Minnesota Duluth gears up for its longest road trip of the season starting Friday with its fiercest rival Winona State University (3-4-1, 2-2-1 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference). Following that clash, the Bulldogs travel farther south two days later against Upper Iowa University (1-5-1, 1-3-1 NSIC).
SCOUTING REPORT ON WINONA STATE: The Warriors have split their last four games. They dropped a 1-0 decision to Augustana last Sunday. Abby Bohanski leads the Warriors in goals with four. Alyssa Reynolds, Darian Moler and Courtney Wiencek are the other goal scorers. Molter guides all Warrior attackers with 26 shots. Rachel Oleson started all eight games as the keeper. Oleson can be scored on as she ranks 11th among goalies with a 1.48 goals against average. WSU has allowed 28 corners compared to the 15 it has took.
SCOUTING REPORT ON UPPER IOWA: The Peacocks have lost their last two contests. Five of UIU's seven goals came in a scoring outburst against Minnesota Crookston. Upper Iowa has given up at least three goals on three occasions. The Peacocks are giving up corner kicks at a rate of almost four-to-one. Jordyn Ostrowski heads the scorers with three goals. Corel Carmichael and Rachel Fowler both have two tallies each. Carmicheal, Ostrowski and Birgit Rjinders all attempted double-digit shot attempts.
THE SERIES: The matchup between the Bulldogs and the Warriors will be the 31st time the two teams collide. Winona State leads the series 15-12-3 and is one of only three NSIC teams to have a winning record over UMD. Each club has racked up three wins the previous four years with the Bulldogs having an upper hand in the latest contest, winning 2-0.
The matchup between the Bulldogs and the Peacocks will be the 10th meeting all-time with UMD holding a slight 5-4 advantage over UIU. The Peacocks have won the last three games including last year's 2-0 shutout of the Bulldogs.
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD stacks up against MSU and CSP in the latest United Soccer Coaches Division II poll and how they were matched up in the United Soccer Coaches Division II Central Region poll.
TEAM POLL REGIONAL
UMD NR 9th
WSU NR NR
UIU NR NR
THE BROADCAST: The match on Friday will be carried live through a video stream, in addition to live stats, and are available for free at:
portal.stretchinternet.com/winona
Sunday's game will be carried live through a video stream, in addition to live stats, and is available for free at:
portal.stretchinternet.com/uiu
LAST TIME OUT: UMD locked up six points on the weekend moving up to a fourth-place tie with Concordia-St. Paul with 10 points.
The Bulldogs gave up the early goal to MSU-Moorhead but rallied to tie the game before the half then score the go-ahead tally to hold off the Dragons. Emily Hinz and Skye Finley each scored as Finley racked up her third game-winner. Over the last three games, Hinz has made her first two starts and garnered two goals and an assist for a team-high five points and has tallied the most shots on target.
UMD and Northern State remained scoreless for 50 minutes before an unlikely hero emerged from the Bulldog bench. Redshirt freshman Gabby Bland was the savior as her first collegiate shot netted the only goal of the afternoon. The Bulldogs collected a season-high 30 shots and 18 first-half attempts in the first half. The last time UMD registered that many shots in a half was in 2014 with 21 shots against Minot State.
Sisley Ng appeared in net for both outings tabbing her fourth and fifth wins of the year. Ng, who posted her third shutout last Sunday, made seven saves over the course of the two games.
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.
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.
TOP DOGS: Forwards Skye Finley and Natalie St. Martin have leaped near the top of the NSIC scoring charts and rank among the best in the league. Finley sits third in points (9) and fourth in points per game (1.13). St. Martin is tied for seventh with seven points and tied for ninth in points per game (.88).
THESE DOGS HAVE NO QUIT: The Bulldogs have knocked in 12 of their 14 goals in the second half. All six go-ahead markers have come after the intermission. They have also outscored the competition 12-1 in the second 45 minutes.
YOU'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR FIRST: Junior Madison Carey, sophomore Mikayla Iaquinto and sophomore Emily Hinz each registered their first points of their careers this season. 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 St. Cloud State on Sept. 10. Hinz had a goal and an assist against Concordia-St. Paul on Sept. 17.
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).
UMD lasted 459:19 minutes into the season before trailing in regulation. It either led or tied its opponents for over six games until Concordia-St. Paul booted the opening marker at 9:19.
BRICK HOUSE: UMD has allowed five goals in eight games played (.605 GAA) which marks them as the 37th best defense in the country in goals allowed per game. That figure is only topped in the NSIC by Bemidji State University and Minnesota State.
NOT ON HER WATCH: Junior goalkeeper Sisley Ng recorded three of the four Bulldog shutouts thus far. Ng's .496 goals against average slots her 24th in the nation and her .885 save percentage places herself at 26th in the land. The goals against average is second and save percentage numbers stack her third in the conference.
GOOOOOOOAL!: Skye Finley leads the team with four goals, which ranks her third in the NSIC. The co-captain trails only Rachael Norton (BSU) and Caylin Cathey (Mary) in the distinction of top goal scorer. She is also tied for first in game-winning tallies with three. Finley also paces the entire conference in shots and shots per game.
WHAT A FEED: Natalie St. Martin does more than just score goals. Her three assists occupy the No. 2 slot with Concordia-St Paul's Jordan Rowan-Stafford in the conference and 56th in all of Division II.
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.
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 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.
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 and five NAIA District 12 titles in his nine years. Cane later played an integral role in establishing the St. Scholastica women's soccer program in 1990.
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 three 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 at the collegiate level 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.
UP NEXT: The Bulldogs have Minot State University on tap Friday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. in Minot, N.D. The Beavers, who are the reigning 2016 regular season champions, are 3-4-1 and 2-3 in the conference.
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