THE OPENING KICK: The University of Minnesota Duluth comes home for the final regular season game, playing host to the St. Cloud State Huskies.

SENIORS ASSEMBLE: The Bulldogs will be having their annual Senior Day on Friday, honoring the squads senior players.

SCOUTING REPORT ON ST. CLOUD STATE: The Huskies come off a weekend where they were able to snag two wins within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. First, SCSU took on the Minot State Beavers, and handled them easily with a 2-0 victory. They then went home to host UMary, where they took down the Marauders in a 1-0 battle. SCSU carries a 9-4-3 overall (8-3-2 in the NSIC, sitting 5th). Gretta Arvesen is in her sixth go around as the head coach of the Huskies soccer program, carrying a 47-44-17 record during that time.
The Huskies have seven different goal scorers on the year, with 10 different players on the squad grabbing points on the year. Claire Shea is leading the way for SCSU. In the 16 games she's played in, she has amassed six goals and two assists, totaling eight points. She has taken 61 shots on the year and potted two game winners. Zoe Welsh has played every game for the Huskies thus far, putting up a 0.78 goals against average (fifth in the NSIC) and stopped 64 shots (eighth in the NSIC).

THE SERIES: Despite dropping last years match-up between the two teams (2-1), the University of Minnesota Duluth has had good fortune against the St. Cloud State Huskies in years past, holding a 17-8-6 all time record against SCSU.  The last three meetings have been about as even as even can get, with the teams going 1-1-1 with each side scoring 2 goals over those three matches.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD stacks up against St. Cloud State in both the NSIC, their overall records, and the latest United Soccer Coaches Division II poll.
 

SCHOOL	NSIC	OVERALL	COACHES POLL
UMD	11TH	6-8-2	NR
SCSU	5TH	9-4-3	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 eight on the year, most recently scoring in a 3-1 win over Sioux Falls. Hinz also has 17 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 eight goals on the year, averaging .53 goals per game. She is ranked third in the NSIC for goals and fourth for goals per game. She has 17 points (1.00 per game), ranking ninth in the NSIC and ninth for points per game.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: The Bulldogs have 11 different goal scorers through 17 games, with four of those goal scores scoring their first of their career. UMD also has 15 players with points this season, with 13 of them having at least two or more points.

HOLY APPLE: Senior forward Nan Glinsek has seven assists on the year, sitting first on the Bulldogs for assists this season, tied for fifth in the NSIC and tied for 40th in DII. The seven assists also marks a career high for assists in a season for Glinsek, with her previous high being four in her sophomore year. Glinsek is just short of setting a season high in points. She has seven on the year (all assists), her season high in point total is 10, set in her junior year.

RECAPPING THE 2018 SEASON: The Bulldogs finished the 2018 season with a 7-10-1 record. The season concluded with the Bulldogs dropping a nail bitter to the Minot State Beavers 1-0.  UMD is looking to improve upon their home record, winning four games in each of the past two seasons at Malosky Stadium, as well as their away record, just 3 wins (the lowest since 2016 when the Bulldogs went 3-3-4 on the road).

OH CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS: A trio of seniors, defender Maddie Milbrath, forward Logan Nash and forward Nan Glinsek were named captains of this years squad. Glinsek is listed as the captain while Milbrath and Nash are the alternates.

BRINGING THE PACK BACK: UMD returns 21 letterwinners from last season including eight starters and two all-conference players. The Bulldogs have 10 upperclassmen, 6 of those seasoned veterans are seniors suiting up in their final collegiate seasons.

THE NEW DOGS ON THE BLOCK: The Bulldogs added nine freshmen and a redshirt freshman from Northern Michigan to the 2019 roster. Of the nine freshmen, six of them -- forward Tiana DeGrande (Blaine, Minn.), midfielder Sarah Stange (Andover, Minn.), defender Nora Griffin-Wiesner (Golden Valley, Minn.), goalkeeper Jacqi Rae, defender Eliana Maricano and midfielder Daisy Miller -- hail from the land of 10,000 lakes. Forward Erin Walpole, forward Lauren Singstock and goalkeeper Rebecca Osborne hail from Wisconsin, and Lauren Hansen hails from Illinois.

NSIC COACHES PICK BULLDOGS EIGHTH: UMD was picked to finish eighth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference according to the NSIC coaches' poll. The Bulldogs were selected behind Minnesota State, Augustana, Bemidji State, Condcordia-St. Paul, St. Cloud State, Winona State and U-Mary.

NASH AND IAQUINTO SELECTED PRESEASON PLAYER TO WATCH FOR: Senior forward Logan Nash was selected the Bulldogs' offensive preseason player to watch and senior defender Mikayla Iaquinto was selected the defensive preseason player to watch. Logan Nash accumulated one goal and two assists for four points last season. Iaquinto has started 47 of 56 games in the past three years, putting up three assists in that span and playing 3527 minutes in the process.

SEEKING OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER: The Bulldogs lost two  of their three leading scorers, a little over 25 percent of the club's production. UMD does return 6 goal scorers this season. Seniors Nan Glinsek and Logan Nash combined for five goals and 14 points in 2018. Five Bulldogs (junior Holly Kaboord, sophomores Hannah Caldwell, Haley Ford, Alli Jenkins and Julia Osborne) all registered their first collegiate points from a year ago.