THE OPENING KICK: The University of Minnesota Duluth comes home after a two game road trip host two games. The Bulldogs will take on the Winona State Warriors (Oct. 18) and the Upper Iowa Peacocks (Oct. 20).

SCOUTING REPORT ON WINONA STATE: The Warriors currently carry a 4-7-0 record on the year, 3-5-0 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (sitting ninth in the conference standings). Winona State comes off a weekend where they dropped two games, first against Augustana (3-0), then to Wayne State (2-1). The Warriors are 2-2-1 in their past five games, being out scored 6-5 in that span. Matt Kellogg is in his second season as the second head coach of the program, and carries a 12-15 (.446) record while at Winona State.
Georgette Topalis leads the squad with four goals on the season, accounting for almost a third of the teams scoring. She also has one game winning goal on the season. The Warriors spread the offense this year, with 11 different goal scorers this year. The same 11 different players also are the point getters on the season. Yanel Ortiz has played every minute for Winona, having 990 on the season. She has 54 saves and has a 1.82 (sitting 14th in the NSIC) goals against average. She carries a .730 (sitting 17th in the conference) save percentage.

SCOUTING REPORT ON UPPER IOWA:  The Peacocks come off a weekend where they had two losses. One came to Wayne State (Neb.) in a 1-0 battle. The other came to Augustana (SD) in a 2-0 loss. Upper Iowa carries a 2-6-3 record with a 2-4-2 record in NSIC, currently sitting 10th in the conference. James Price is in his fourth season at the helm of the Upper Iowa program, and holds a 18-40-6 (.328) record with the Peacocks. He has an all time record of 146-223-38 (.405) in 22 seasons.
Haley Ramberg leads the Peacocks this year with three goals on the season, totaling out to six points on the year. She has almost half of Upper Iowa's goals this year, and almost a third of the teams points. The Peacocks have five different goal scorers on the year, with seven players in total putting points up for the season. Facienne Graham is second on the team in scoring this year, with two goals and one assist totalling five points on the season. Natalie Rudrud has done a majority of the goalkeeping this season. She carries a 1.33 goals against average, and a .843 save percentage to go along with it. She ranks 11th in GAA and eighth in save percentage in NSIC.

THE SERIES: The University of Minnesota Duluth has been fairly even with Winona State over the years, carrying a 12-17-3 record all time against the Warriors. Winona State took last years match up 1-0, and have won three of the last four meetings between the two teams. The Warriors have out scored the Bulldogs  5-3 in that span. The University of Minnesota Duluth has had better luck against the Peacocks, carrying a 6-5-0 record all-time against Upper Iowa. The Peacocks took last years meeting, 1-0 as well. Upper has also won the three of the last four match ups between the two teams, out scoring the Bulldogs 5-2 in those four meetings.
 
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD stacks up against Winona State and Upper Iowa in both the NSIC, their overall records, and the latest United Soccer Coaches Division II poll.
 

School	NSIC	Overall	Coaches Poll
UMD	11th	4-6-1	NR
WSU	9th	4-7-0	NR
UIU	10th	2-6-3	NR

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

For those interested in live stats only follow the link and click on the stats button: portal.stretchinternet.com/umd/

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Senior midfielder Emily Hinz scored two goals against Michigan Tech on Sept. 8, the second game of the season. The two goals sets a career high for goals in a game for Hinz. She also has broke her personal career high in goals in a season. Her old record was two in her sophomore season, she currently has six on the year, most recently scoring on a penalty kick against MSU Moorhead on Oct. 13 in a 1-1 tie. Hinz also has 13 points on the season, setting a career high for points on in a year. Her old record was five, also in her sophomore season.  

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Junior forward Holly Kaboord scored her first game winning goal of her collegiate career against the defending national champions Bridgeport Purple Knights on Sept. 12 in a 3-2 win. The goal was also the first of her career. Kaboord has one goal and assist each, giving her a career high in points in a season with  three.

TOP OF THE BOARD: Hinz has five goals on the year, averaging .545 goals per game. She is ranked fourth in the NSIC for goals and fourth for goals per game. She also sits 98th in DII for goals per game and 64th in goals. She has 13 points (1.18 per game), ranking tied for fourth in the NSIC and tied for fifth for points per game. She sits in 113th for points and 145th in points per game in DII.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: The Bulldogs have eight different goal scorers through seven games, with four of those goal scores scoring their first of their career. UMD also has 10 players with points this season, all with two points or more on the year.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs take back to the road, heading to Marshall, Minn. to take on Southwest Minnesota State (Oct. 25), then head to Sioux Falls, SD to take on Sioux Falls (Oct. 27).