THE OPENING KICK: It's crunch time with two weeks left in the regular season. The University of Minnesota Duluth need a resurgence to get back into postseason contention as it is sitting in 10th with 13 points three points behind Northern State University for the final playoff spot. The Bulldogs host Southwest Minnesota State University and the University of Sioux Falls this weekend. UMD will honor its seniors Friday, Oct. 19 at 6:00 p.m. against the Mustangs. The Bulldogs will wrap up the weekend Sunday afternoon against the Cougars.

SCOUTING REPORT ON SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE: The Mustangs (3-10, 3-8 NSIC) are tied for 13th in the NSIC with nine points. They have lost five straight and been outscored in those contests by a 18-1 margin. 

SMSU is eighth in the NSIC in scoring at 1.15 goals per game but rank next to last in that department defensively giving up 2.69 goals per game. The Mustangs are attempting 9.1 shots per game but are getting 62 percent on goal. Teams are getting an average of 17.1 shots off on SMSU per game. Winless at home (0-6), it is 3-2 on the road.

The offense plays through Alli Miskowiec and Abbey Hoisington, whom each have five goals a piece to lead the Mustangs. Miskowiec has three assists for a team-leading 13 points. Hoisington has 11 points. Jessica Craigmile and Jenna Meyer has split time in goal for SMSU. Craigmile is 2-6 with a 2.22 goals against average and a 77.8 saves percentage. Meyer is 1-4 with a 3.40 goals against average and a 57.5 saves percentage. The Mustangs have not recorded a shutout this season.

SCOUTING REPORT ON SIOUX FALLS: The Cougars (4-8-2; 3-6-2 NSIC) are one spot behind UMD in the NSIC standings at 10th with 11 points. They are winless over the last four with a pair of losses and ties. The last win came against Minnesota Crookston in a 1-0 decision in Crookston.

Sioux Falls is averaging 0.86 goals per game with 12 goals on the season. The Cougars are ninth in the conference with 179 shots. Sioux Falls, defensively, is allowing 1.57 goals per game on an average of 17.4 shots per game.

Lindsay Power leads the team in scoring with nine points. She has a team-high three goals on 25 shots and a team-high three assists as well. McKayla Philippi has six points with a pair of goals and assists for the Cougars. Aundria Vargas also has chipped in two goals. Brayden Paul has started all 14 matches for Sioux Falls and has made 91 saves to go with three shutouts. She sports a 1.52 goals against average and an 80.5 saves percentage.

THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are 23-4 in 27 meetings against the Mustangs. UMD defeated SMSU 3-1 last season at home. The Bulldogs won the first 23 as that win snapped a four-match losing streak to the Mustangs. 
The Bulldogs are 5-0-1 in their six contests against the Cougars. UMD and Sioux Falls played to a 1-1 draw last season at home. Since the first encounter in 2012, the Bulldogs have outscored the Cougars 14-2.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD stacks up against Northern State and MSU Moorhead with their records, points in the NSIC, and the latest United Soccer Coaches Division II poll.
TEAM        RECORD        NSIC             POLL
UMD             5-8-1          13 (10th)           NR
SMSU           3-10            9 (T-13th)         NR
USF             4-8-2            11 (11th)           NR

THE BROADCAST: All NSIC matches at home will be carried live through a video stream with Josh Wallace on the call, with live stats, and is available for free at:portal.stretchinternet.com/umd/

LAST WEEK MATCHES: After a promising previous weekend, UMD had a setback on its push to lock up a NSIC postseason berth. The Bulldogs lost a pair of 1-0 decisions on the road to Winona State University and Upper Iowa University. UMD played well but gave up a pair of late goals late in each match. Abby Bohanski scored for the Warriors with 4:40 left and Katie Samuels scored for the Peacocks at the 79th minute. Senior forward Natalie St. Martin racked up 12 shots and six shots on goal while senior goalkeeper Carlye Wright made eight saves over the weekend.

FIRST YEAR LUCK: The freshmen class has accounted for 28.2 percent of the production. Four freshmen (Julia Osborne, Hannah Caldwell, Haley Ford and Alli Jenkins) have combined to score four goals and three assists for 11 points.

REMEMBERING YOUR FIRST: A trio of Bulldogs have netted their first collegiate goals this season. Freshmen Julia Osborne and Hannah Caldwell and redshirt freshman Haley Ford have booted their first tallies in a Bulldog uniform in three separate matches. Osborne scored the game winner against Northern Michigan. Caldwell scored the third goal in a 3-0 win over Minnesota Crookston. Ford compiled her tally in the match versus Bemidji State.

PRODUCTION FROM WHERE YOU LEAST EXPECT: The starters XI should have most of your scoring production. However, six of the 12 goals this season have been scored off the bench.

SECOND HALF DOGS: Eight of the 12 UMD's goals this season have come in the second half of play.
FINDING HER MARK: Six points in the first two seasons, junior midfielder Nan Glinsek has scored a career high eight points after a five-point weekend with two goals and an assist against Northern State and MSU Moorhead. Glinsek had both game-winning goals.

LENDING A FOOT: From the backline, senior defender Lizzy Fontes is leading UMD with three assists. Fontes has now registered three assists in each of the last seasons.

ARE YOU IN GOOD HANDS?: Senior goalkeeper Sisley Ng has climbed the ranks among the program's record book for keepers. Walked on days prior to her freshman campaign, Ng sits fourth in career saves (223), eighth in saves percentage (.802), seventh in shutouts (13.0), seventh in goals against average (1.15), and seventh in wins (18).

ROLLING OVER 5K MINUTES: Seniors Erika Hjort and Natalie St. Martin have each eclipsed the 5,000-minute played mark for their respective careers. Hjort is at 5,300 minutes and St. Martin is at 5,575 minutes. When minutes were kept track at the start of the 2006 season, Hjort has the eighth most minutes played while St. Martin is fourth among the program's elite minute eaters.

1. Riley Allen                 5,979
2. Emily Fleissner          5,780
3. Dani Potter                 5,584
4. Natalie St. Martin     5,575
5. Jennifer Smith            5,509
6. Maureen Stormont     5,443
7. Hannah Keil              5,333
8. Erika Hjort                5,300

RELIABLE QUARTET: Four seniors -- Laura Edgren, Lizzy Fontes, Erika Hjort and Natalie St. Martin -- have all started at least 60 games for the Bulldogs during their four-year careers. Since starts were tracked in 2006, the foursome are creeping into the top 10 charts.

1. Jennifer Smith                  78
T-2. Hannah Keil                   73
T-2. Maureen Stormont         73
4. Dani Potter                        68
5. Natalie St. Martin             67
T-6. Kelly Klun                       65
T-6. Riley Allen                      65
T-8. Emily Fleissner              63
T-8. Lizzy Fontes                63
T-10. Megan Helberg            61
T-10. Erika Hjort                  61
12. Laura Edgren                60

OH CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS: A trio of seniors, goalkeeper Sisley Ng, defender Erika Hjort and midfielder Laura Edgren  have been entrenched with the 'C' responsibilities for this fall. Ng is listed as the captain while Hjort and Edgren are the alternates.

NSIC COACHES PICK BULLDOGS SIXTH: UMD was picked to finish sixth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference for the second consecutive year according to the NSIC coaches' poll. The Bulldogs were selected behind Minnesota State Mankato, Bemidji State, Augustana, Minot State, and Concordia-St. Paul.

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 all time. His 271 collegiate wins with the St. Scholastica and UMD clubs ranks him 11th among active head coaches.

2017 ACCOLADES: Four players were bestowed all-conference honors. Skye Finley received NSIC First Team honors from the conference. Natalie St. Martin was awarded second team honors, and Emily Fleissner and Destiny Schmitz were third team picks. St. Martin and Finley each collected NSIC Player of the Week citations. Finley went on to be selected as a first team United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-Region, which eventually directed her to being named to the third team Scholar All-American team.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs finish out the regular season with a home-and-road weekend. UMD has its home finale Friday, Oct. 26 against the University of Mary before embarking out west to take on Minot State University Sunday afternoon in the final match of the 2018 regular season