THE OPENING KICK: The University of Minnesota Duluth is set to take to the road for two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference match ups against the Northern State Wolves (Oct. 11) and the MSU Moorhead Dragons (Oct. 13).

SCOUTING REPORT ON NORTHERN STATE: The Wolves are currently carrying a 3-5-0 record, 1-4-0 in the NSIC (sitting in 13th in the conference) , coming off a weekend where they dropped two games, one to Winona State in a 2-0 battle, as well as a game to Upper Iowa 2-1. The Wolves have been 1-4 in their past five games, being out scored 6-3 in that stretch. Ryszard Gorski, the seocnd head coach in the programs history, is in his first year as head coach of the Wolves, coming after two years as an assistant coach at Bemidji State.
Stephany Estrada and Gaby Roman have lead the charge for Northern State, each scoring two goals, Estrada has one assist to lead the team with five points, Roman has four points, as well as a game winning goal. The Wolves have four goal scores for the year, with nine players nabbing a point so far this year. Morgan Bury has played every minute for the Wolves, playing in all eight games, racking up 44 saves on the season and carries a .863 save percentage and 0.87 goals against average. That .863 save percentage is good for seventh in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and 43rd in all DII. The 0.87 goals against average is good for seventh in the NSIC as well, sitting 75th in DII.

SCOUTING REPORT ON MINNESOTA STATE MOORHEAD: The Dragons are currently sitting at 3-3-3, 1-3-2 in NSIC play (12th in the conference), coming off of a 0-1-1 weekend, tying Upper Iowa 1-1, and losing to Winona State 2-0. The Dragons have been 0-3-2 in their last five contests, being out scored 2-6 in that span. Christie Kopietz is back for her fourth season at the helm of the squad. She lead the Dragons to four wins last year, the most in a season since 2012. She carries a 10-43-6 overall record since taking over in 2016.
Mckenzie Ickert leads the Dragons offence this season, scoring three goals so far this year and accumulating eight points thus far. Moorhead has five separate goal scorers during their 2019 campaign, three of them have one goal so far. There have been seven players on the squad that have nabbed one point on the year. The Dragons have had two goalkeepers take between the posts this year, with Kayleigh Sedlacek taking a majority of the time so far. Shes played in seven games up to this point, playing 600 minutes, giving up four goals and putting up 35 saves along the way. Her 0.60 goals against average is good for fourth in the NSIC and 19th in all DII. She carries a .897 save percentage on the year, sitting two in the NSIC and fifth in DII.

THE SERIES: The University of Minnesota Duluth has done well against Northern State and MSU Moorhead in the past. The Bulldogs took the contest last year against the Wolves, beating them 2-0. UMD has taken the past three contests against Northern State, out scoring the Wolves 4-0 in that span. The Bulldogs carry an overall record of 16-2-1 against the Wolves. The Dragons haven't had much luck either, with UMD carrying a 20-3-1 overall against MSU Moorhead. Last years match up went to the Bulldogs, 2-0, with the last three contests going UMD's way, with the Bulldogs out scoring the Dragons 7-2 during that time.
 
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD stacks up against Northern State and MSU Moorhead in both the NSIC, their overall records, and the latest United Soccer Coaches Division II poll.
 

School	NSIC	Overall	Coaches Poll
UMD	14th	3-6-0	NR
NSU	13th	3-5-0	NR
MSUM	12th	3-3-3	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 five on the year, most recently scoring against Minnesota State on Sept. 27 in a 2-1 loss in double overtime. Hinz also has 11 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 IF 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 .556 goals per game. She is ranked third  in the NSIC for goals and fourth for goals per game. She also sits 104th in DII for goals per game and 68th in goals. She has 11 points (1.22 per game), ranking tied for third in the NSIC and tied for seventh for points per game. She sits in 108th for points and 145 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 will return to Duluth, Minn. to play host for two NSIC matchups. First will be Winona State (Oct. 18) and then Upper Iowa (Oct. 20) will come to town.