THE OPENING KICK: The University of Minnesota Duluth begins its 25th anniversary season with a non-conference engagement against Michigan Tech University. Action kicks off Thursday, Aug. 30 at 5:00 pm. central time.
SCOUTING REPORT ON MICHIGAN TECH: The Huskies finished 5-11-1 in 2017 and was selected 6th in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Preseason Poll. The Huskies' soccer program is about to embark on its ninth overall season in 2018. Head Coach Michelle Jacob begins her ninth season, guiding the program.
A key returner on offense is Brooke Schauer. The sophomore tied for the team lead in goals (2) and was tied for second on the team in total points (5) this past season. On the back line, Rachel Wall helped anchor one of the top defenses in the conference in 2017. The Huskies ranked fourth in the GLIAC for goals against average at 1.31 and had 13 matches decided by one goal. Wall was an All-GLIAC Honorable Mention selection following the 2017 campaign.
THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are 1-3 all-time against the Huskies. UMD captured its first victory over Michigan Tech just last season in Houghton, Mich., in a 3-1 win in non-conference action. This will be the fourth season in a row that the two clubs will collide.
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD stacks up against Michigan Tech in both their respective conference coaches poll, their records last season, and the latest United Soccer Coaches Division II poll.
TEAM CONF. RECORD COACHES
UMD 6th (NSIC) 10-5-4 NR
MTU 6th (GLIAC) 5-11-1 NR
THE BROADCAST: The match this weekend will be carried live through a video stream, in addition to live stats, and is available for a fee at: portal.stretchinternet.com/mtu/
LIVE STATS: To follow the action via live stats follow the link: www.michigantechhuskies.com/sports/wsoc/2018-19/boxscores/20180830_witq.xml
OPENING MATCH: UMD is 13-9-2 in its 24 season openers. It has won the last two opening matches (1-0 and 3-0 over Wisconsin-Parkside). The Bulldogs are 6-5-1 on the road.
RECAPPING THE 2017 SEASON: The Bulldogs finished the 2017 season with a 10-5-4 record and hit double-digit victories for the 14th time in 24 seasons. Their record was an improvement from the 8-6-5 record the season prior. UMD started 3-0 for first time since 2005 and went 242:35 seconds without allowing a goal to start the year, which was the longest stint to start a season since the inaugural season in 1994. The season concluded with the Bulldogs going 9-0-3 when scoring first and they, for the first time since 2013, had a winning road record as they rounded up six road wins in a season for the first time in eight years.The road to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference postseason was a nail-biter as it came down to the final game of the season. The Bulldogs clinched the last playoff spot in a 1-0 victory over the University of Minnesota Crookston. Minnesota State Mankato was pushed to a 1-1 tie after overtime but managed to win in PKs 9-8, which was the longest shootout in NSIC postseason history.
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.
BRINGING THE PACK BACK: UMD returns 22 letterwinners from last season including eight starters and two all-conference players. The Bulldogs have 15 upperclassmen, 10 of those seasoned veterans are seniors suiting up in their final collegiate seasons.
THE NEW DOGS ON THE BLOCK: The Bulldogs added six freshmen, a redshirt freshman from Northern Michigan and a goalie formerly on the UMD women's hockey team to the 2018 roster. All six freshmen -- forward Hannah Caldwell (Prior Lake, Minn.), forward Mandy Conkel (Eagan, Minn.), defender Kirsten Dagel (Eden Prairie, Minn.), midfielder Alli Jenkins (Coon Rapids, Minn.), midfielder Ebelin Morales Benites (Minneapolis, Minn.), and midfielder Julia Osborne (Andover, Minn.) -- hail from the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Rebecca Osborne is a goalkeeper transfer from Green Bay, Wis., and Jessica Convery, a native of Commence Township, Mich., joins the soccer team after exhausting her hockey eligibility.
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.
HJORT AND ST. MARTIN SELECTED PRESEASON PLAYER TO WATCH FOR: Senior forward Natalie St. Martin was selected the Bulldogs' offensive preseason player to watch and senior defender Erika Hjort was selected the defensive preseason player to watch for the second consecutive season. St. Martin accumulated three goals and nine assists for 15 points. Her nine assists last season were second most in the NSIC and 21st overall in the nation. Hjort has started 34 of the last 36 games for 2,990 minutes. She recorded three points with a goal and an assist in 2017 and anchored the UMD defense with 15 career shutouts including five last season.
SEEKING OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER: The Bulldogs lost two of their top four leading scorers, nearly 25 percent of the club's production. UMD does return 10 goal scorers this season. Seniors Natalie St. Martin and Destiny Schmitz combined for nine goals and 28 points in 2017. Seven Bulldogs (senior Madison Carey, juniors Mikayla Iaquinto, Emily Hinz, Nan Glinsek, and Maddie Milbrath and sophomores Gabby Bland and Jenna Eichten) all registered their first collegiate points from a year ago.
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 seventh in career saves (180), ninth in saves percentage (.793), seventh in shutouts (nine), ninth in goals against average (1.22), and eighth in wins (13).
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.
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. On the sidelines for all 446 matches, the Duluth native has won at a .613 clip, piling up an overall record of 251-150-45.
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 18 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 Bengtson 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.
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 266 collegiate wins with the St. Scholastica and UMD clubs ranks him 13th among head coaches.
UP NEXT: The Bulldogs head back home for a few days before returning to the upper peninsula to play Northern Michigan University on Sunday, Sept. 2.
