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Southwest Minnesota State (1-7-0, 1-3-0 NSIC) will hit the road this weekend, traveling to Northern State (5-5-0, 1-2-0 NSIC) and Mary (3-6-0, 3-0-0 NSIC).  Saturday's game against Northern State will begin at 12 p.m.  Sunday's game at Mary is set for a 1 p.m. start.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Northern State: The Wolves come into Saturday's game having split their past six games, including a 2-1 loss to Augustana on Sunday.  Maggie Fedor (F, So.) has led the team with five goals and four assists.  Kaylee McDonald (MF, Fr.) also has five goals and one assist.  Kirsten Saunders (MF, Fr.) has three goals and two assists, while Summer Swan (MF, Jr.) and Lexi Jares (MF, Fr.) each have found the net twice.  Dee Wood (GK, So.) is 3-4-0 with a 1.20 GAA and .700 save percentage.

Mary: The Marauders enter the weekend on a roll, winning their past three games after starting the season 0-6-0.  After winning 2-1 at Augustana last Saturday, UM defeated Wayne State 6-1 on Sunday.  Jessica Janusz (F, Sr.), Amy Tanaka (D, Fr.) and Alyssa Deutscher (F, Jr.) each have three goals.  Janusz has a team-high five assists.  Megan Wilson (F, So.) also has one goal and two assists.  Brannigan Coyle (GK, Sr.) and Carly Feiler (GK, Jr.) have split time in the net.  Coyle is 2-3-0 with a 2.00 GAA and .697 save percentage.  Feiler is 1-3-0 with a 1.50 GAA and .778 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
SMSU leads the all-time series against NSU 9-6-1 overall, but trails 4-2-1 in games played in Aberdeen.  Northern has won the past four meetings between the two schools, including 1-0 in Aberdeen last fall.  UM is 6-0-0 all-time against Southwest, including 1-0-0 in Bismarck.  Last year, Mary beat SMSU 1-0 in the NSIC Tournament in Aberdeen after a 4-0 win in Bismarck earlier in the season.

MUSTANG NOTES
Concordia-St. Paul's Emily Weimelt scored a goal from 40 yards away with 5:38 left in the second half to give the Golden Bears a 1-0 victory over Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday in Marshall.

Kendra Olchefske had a good day in the net for the Mustangs, making five saves.  But Weimelt's shot from the center of the field squeaked through her hands to find the back of the net.

Southwest had season highs with 14 shot attempts and eight shots on goal.  Ashley Elbers had a career-high four shot attempts, including two on goal.  Liz Judkins also had a career-high with three shot attempts.

The Mustangs had two chances to score in the final 1:30 of the game.  A foul by the Golden Bears fouled SMSU just outside the box.  Tatum Borstad's free kick from the right wing went through the box, but no Mustang was able to get a head or a foot on the ball.  Borstad had a shot attempt seconds later that went wide right.

On Sunday, the Southwest Minnesota State soccer team dropped 2-0 decision to St. Cloud State at the Regional Event Center.

The Huskies' Tara Evangelist scored both goals.  The first came from inside the box in the 63rd minute on a pass from Alexandra Pafko.  Her final came with just over a minute left in the game on a free kick from the top of the box.

Olchefske made five saves for the Mustangs.  SMSU was out-shot 21-8 in the game, though only seven of those shots from St. Cloud were on goal.

HEAD COACH AMY OLSON
Southwest Minnesota State University director of athletics Chris Hmielewski announced on Dec. 28, 2007, that Amy Olson would be named the new head women's soccer coach at SMSU.  Olson, who is the third head coach in the program's 12-year history, replaces Jill McCartney who resigned following the 2007 season.

Olson completed her fourth season as head coach at NCAA Division I South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, S.C., in 2007.  Prior to taking over the helm at South Carolina State, Olson spent two seasons as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Prairie View A&M University where she helped start its women's soccer program.  During her two years at Prairie View A&M, Olson also coached a pair of club teams in Minnesota, the West Side Soccer Association in St. Paul and the Minneapolis Soccer Association in Minneapolis.

Olson's teams had tremendous success in the classroom, as South Carolina State's Academic Progress Rate (APR) was a perfect 1,000.  On the field, SCSU had five players earn postseason honors from the United Soccer Conference in 2007.

Olson has a record of 1-7-0 at SMSU and 1-3-0 in the NSIC.

FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACHES AT SMSU
Olson is in her first year as the third head coach in SMSU history.  Jen Zebroski posted a 1-13 overall record and 1-3 record in the NSIC in 1996, the first year of the program.  SMSU's lone win that season was a 4-2 victory over Bemidji State on the road in the fourth game of the season.  Jill McCartney took over in 1998 and went 7-11 and 3-3 in the NSIC, including shutout wins over Wayne State, Minnesota, Crookton, Viterbo (Wis.), Minnesota-Morris and Northern State (twice).

OLCHEFSKE'S FIRST CAREER SHUTOUT
Kendra Olchefske was tremendous in the net for the Mustangs, making nine saves for her first career shutout in a 1-0 win over Bemidji State on Sept. 20, including two saves in the final two minutes of the game.

Olchefske made a save with 1:58 remaining.  The Beavers got two more chances moments later as Olchefske made a save on a breakaway with 1:06 left and a Southwest teammate blocked another shot just seconds later to stop the run.

OLCHEFSKE AMONG NSIC'S LEADERS
Kendra Olchefske is currently fifth in the NSIC in saves per game at 6.75.  She has 27 saves in four conference games.  Her 27 saves rank third in the conference.

FRESHMAN FIRSTS
Freshmen Kelly Fitzgerald and Brittany Oehlerking each scored their first career goals in a 4-3 double overtime loss at NCAA Division South Dakota on Wednesday, Sept. 3.  Fitzgerald found the net at 5:16 in the first half and again at 20:17 as she scored twice.  Oehlerking scored her first career goal 18:08 into the game.

MUSTANGS PICKED 12TH IN NSIC
The Southwest Minnesota State women's soccer team was picked to finish 12th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference preseason coaches poll.  Minnesota State, Mankato was picked to win the conference with 164 points, including nine first-place votes.  SMSU had a total of 34 points in the poll.

Winona State was picked second, just nine points behind MSU after winning the regular season conference title a year ago.  University of Mary's Megan Wilson was chosen as the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while Winona State's  Heidi Woerle was selected as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.