THE OPENING KICK: The University of Minnesota Duluth engages a pair of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes this weekend. The Bulldogs play Northern Michigan Friday afternoon in Marquette, Mich. before travelling to Houghton, Mich. Sunday to battle Michigan Technological University.
SCOUTING REPORT ON NORTHERN MICHIGAN: The Wildcats enter Friday's contest 0-2 after dropping a pair of games to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foes -- St. Cloud State University and Winona State University. NMU has been out scored 7-1 in those two games with Jenna Halonen notching the club's only marker. Freshman keeper Brianna Frontuto has seen the most time in net spliting action with Emma Vermette.
SCOUTING REPORT ON MICHIGAN TECH: The Huskies faced off against the same NSIC duo, this time spliting a pair of 1-0 decisions, defeating St. Cloud State. Sarah Boyd scored the lone Husky goal. Kirsen Hudak and Amanda Young have split time evenly in both games with Young making all her save attempts.
THE SERIES: The matchup between the Bulldogs and the Wildcats will be the 21st meeting between the two squads. UMD holds a 13-4-3 advantage over NMU. The Bulldogs were victorious in their last contest last season winning 2-1.
UMD and Michigan Tech will meet for the fourth time on Sunday with the Huskies having won the previous three outings including a 1-0 shutout on the dogs a season ago.
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD stacks up against NMU and MTU in the latest United Soccer Coaches Division II poll and how they were matched up in their respected conference preseason poll.
TEAM RANK
UMD NR
NMU NR
MTU NR
THE BROADCAST: The matches on will carried live through a video stream, in addition to live stats, and are available for free on the links below:
Northern Michigan -- Live Stats / Live Video
Michigan Tech -- Live Stats / Live Video
LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs blanked the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in the 2017 season opener at Malosky Stadium. With the 3-0 victory last Thursday, UMD improved to 15-7-2 in home debuts. Natalie St. Martin (55th), Emily Fleissner (58th), and Skye Finley (79th) each hammered home goals as Sisley Ng collected her fifth career shutout.
GOLDEN GIRL: Junior forward Natalie St. Martin received honors from the NSIC for her outing in Thursday's match against Wisconsin-Parkside. St. Martin was selected as the NSIC Offense Player of the Week in the initial weekly release of 2017. Defender Megan Helberg ('14) was the last Bulldog member to be awarded player of the week honors on Nov. 3, 2014.
St. Martin, the product of Mahtomedi H.S., slammed home the game winner then proceeded to tally assists on the other two markers. Her four-point performance already matched her entire output of 2016.
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 eight 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.
UP NEXT: The Bulldogs have a quick turnaround with a Tuesday evening showdown against St. Cloud State University to open up NSIC action.
Complete Release (PDF)
