THE OPENING KICK: The University of Minnesota Duluth opens its 2018 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schedule under the lights against St. Cloud State University on Sunday, Sept. 9. The opening kick at Husky Stadium will begin at 7:00 p.m.

SCOUTING REPORT ON ST. CLOUD STATE: The Huskies closed out their 0-2-1 non-conference schedule getting shutout by No. 1 Central Missouri 3-0. They lost to Northern Michigan and tied Michigan Tech. St. Cloud State has 22 of its 32 shots on goal, a .688 percentage.

Maria Kass is the leading the team with a pair of goals and four points. She netted both goals in the 2-2 tie versus Michigan Tech. Kass has a team-high six shots on goal. Grace Butler has the other goal. Hannah Marion is second on the team in shots with five. Kelli  Santo Paulo and Zoe Welsh each have an assist. Welsh, the starting goalkeeper, has 16 saves and a .762 saves percentage on top of her one assist.

THE SERIES: The Bulldogs and the Huskies will square off for 31st time. UMD leads the series 17-7-6 over SCSU. The Bulldogs are unbeaten in the last five encounters dating back to 2013. 

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        NSIC        RECORD        POLL
UMD           6th              1-2-0             NR
SCSU          9th              0-2-1             NR

THE BROADCAST: The match this weekend will be carried live through a video stream, in addition to live stats, and is available for free at: portal.stretchinternet.com/scsu/

LIVE STATS: To follow the action via live stats follow the link: scsuhuskies.com/sidearmstats/wsoc

A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST DECISION: UMD suffered a 3-0 setback to the University of North Dakota behind a hat trick by Katie Moller. Moller scored twice in the first half and tacked on her third early in the second half. Senior goalkeepers Carlye Wright and Sisley Ng each played a half. Ng made six saves in the second half. Senior forward Destiny Schmitz had a team-high three shots while junior midfielders Emily Hinz and Nan Glinsek each tallied two shots. 

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.

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. 

SET UP THE PERFECT SCORING CHANCE: Both of the Bulldog goals this season have come off the corner kick. Freshman midfielder Julia Osborne scored her first collegiate goal off a corner kick. Senior defender Erika Hjort got a header off another corner set piece off a corner play by juniors Logan Nash and Nan Glinsek.

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 (186), 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.

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 267 collegiate wins with the St. Scholastica and UMD clubs ranks him 13th among head coaches.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs finish up their six-game road stint to open the season next weekend at Bemidji State University and the University of Minnesota Crookston.